


Between Sex and Violence

by Orici



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anal Sex, BDSM, BDSM Scene, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Bondage, Light BDSM, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-22 11:18:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9605537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orici/pseuds/Orici
Summary: After Dr. Uzumaki figures out the reason for Sasuke’s frequent visits to his ER, he becomes worried that Sasuke’s inexperienced Dominant will eventually cause permanent damage. Wanting to keep him safe, Dom goes against Dom. Finding out the reasons behind Sasuke’s lack of concern for his safety and why he continues to go past his limits. Can he show him the right way into the world of being a submissive and heal him in the process? A regression story from hard BDMS to soft kink. Naru/Sasu. Explicit, AU, kink, mention of hardcore BDSM.





	1. Frequent Flyer

**Thank you my wonderful beta x-psychicfire-x!!!**

**Between Sex and Violence**

**Chapter 1: Frequent Flyer**

            “Hmm? I see Sasuke is back. What is it this time?” The blond Emergency Department doctor asked himself after the name pop-up on his patient board. Naruto looked at the clock, _5:25 am, that’s about right._

Naruto watched the nurse go into the room to take the young man’s vitals and find out the reason for his visit. He smirked, knowing that she won’t get anywhere with the reserved man. He waited patiently for her to return, frustration clear on her face, just as they all get when they meet the stoic Uchiha.

Over the last few months, he has had several run-ins with the man, for one reason or another. At first he came with complaints of hand numbness or shoulder pain, few times he was littered with fingerprint bruises. Naruto suspected domestic abuse and had referred him to social services; this only earned him a smirk from the man before he completely ignored his attempts to get him help. It wasn’t until after Sasuke came in with a rosy ring around his neck and several thin lacerations on his back, did he realize what he was dealing with. Sasuke was involved in BDSM, and obviously with either an amateur Dominant or just a cruel one. Naruto would know.           

            _I wish I could have a few words with them, if you can’t take care of your sub properly, you shouldn’t have one._ Naruto thought angrily, remembering a particular morning when he had to put a couple of stitches in one of the deeper lacerations that didn’t want to stop bleeding.

            _The worst part is, it’s escalating, quickly. They have not had enough time get good at the basics, they shouldn’t be moving on to the hard stuff anytime soon. God, I just hope today isn’t any worse…_ Naruto dreaded the possibility of Sasuke sustaining permanent damage in one of his scenes. As soon as he saw the nurse come out of the room with a huff, he grabbed his stethoscope, hanging it around his neck. His mandatory navy blue physician scrubs slightly wrinkled from the night’s work.

This was a small rural hospital, practically in the middle of nowhere, and he was one of the few doctors that worked here. He took care of the 8 hours of night shift, while his colleague Dr. Haruno and Dr. Nara split the day shifts. The three switched off weekends, allowing them some free time. Nights usually weren’t particularly busy – tonight being no exception – so he was actually able to get a few hours of sleep in. Sasuke was his first patient in nearly 3 hours and probably the last, since he was off at 6 am. Grabbing the raven’s chart, he rolled his eyes at the lack of information that the nurse was able to obtain. Just his vitals were present, and the rest had been left blank. Knocking on the door and walking in, Naruto looked at the young man before him: Sasuke was sitting on the examination table, his head covered by the black zip up hoodie, his black eyes unreadable.

            “Hello Sasuke. What brings you in this time?” Naruto smiled and set down on the chair in front of him. Sasuke had since stopped making up excuses and just chose to completely ignore his questions on how he sustained his injuries. Sasuke hesitated for a few seconds, fidgeting with the zipper of his hoodie before taking it off and tossing it on the chair. The quiet man pulled off his dark grey t-shirt, leaving him in just jeans. Naruto looked at the older yellowing bruises and a few new purple marks on his chest, but nothing seemed out of place, for Sasuke that is. Naruto stood up and walked over to the raven who looked him straight in the eyes without a shred of shame or humiliation in his gaze.

            _At least he is proud of what he is, good for him. As long as it doesn’t get him killed_. Naruto stepped to the side and looked at his back.

            “Holy shit! What happened?” Naruto stared at Sasuke’s shoulder blade that was marred by a red, angry and painful looking bite mark. Knowing he was not likely to get a straight answer from the man, he sighed and turned to get some gauze and saline water to clear the area. He noticed some fading bruises that began just above his waistband that caused him to grind his teeth in frustration, but he remained calm.

            “You know, the human mouth is a very dirty place.” Naruto said conversationally. It wasn’t his place to judge, but he couldn’t help but be worried about the youth. Sasuke was eight years younger than him, a baby when it came to rough play and obviously only getting into it recently. Taking a closer look at the teeth imprint wound, he concluded that the owner of said teeth had a nasty set of canines.

            “When did this happen?” Naruto took off his stethoscope and listened to Sasuke’s heart and lungs. The young man looked defensive.

            “Three days ago.” Sasuke replied flatly.

            Naruto frowned. “Why didn’t you come in earlier?” Sasuke paused momentarily.

            “You weren’t working.” The surprised look on the blond’s face forced him to continue. “And I didn’t feel like explaining what happened to the other doctors.” Naruto shook his head.

            _What am I going to do with you…_

            “Luckily, I gave you a tetanus shot last time. But it does look like it could be infected.” Naruto sat back on the chair in front of Sasuke. “I would like to get some blood work done just to make sure you don’t have an infection in your blood.”

            “Is that really necessary?” Sasuke asked, clearly not wanting to make a bigger deal than he had to out of this.

            “It is necessary, unless you’d rather die from sepsis.” Naruto didn’t have the patience to beat around the bush with him, plus he knew Sasuke did not appreciate the overly nice sentiment.

            “Hn. Fine.”    

            “Sasuke? While we’re doing that, when was the last time you got checked for STDs?” Naruto used his most professional doctor tone. Sasuke didn’t answer for a whole minute, contemplating if he was going to have this conversation.

            “About 6 months ago.”

            “And have you been with the same partner since?” He had to tread the subject carefully; otherwise he would scare off the man. Another pause.

            “Yes.” He was getting uncomfortable with the questions.

            “Is it the same for him?”

            _No reason to beat around this bush either. That bite mark was way too big to belong to a woman…_ Sasuke raised his eyebrow in surprise.

            “As far as I know.”

            Naruto nodded. “Mind if I check your blood for anything transmittable while I’m running the sepsis screen?”

            Sasuke shrugged. “Whatever.”

            “I’m going to grab some supplies to dress that nasty bite and a dose of antibiotic to give you now.”

Naruto walked out, closing the door behind him. The nurse was hovering by his workstation, eagerly waiting on the scoop.

            “You know I can’t tell you anything Karin, Sasuke has specifically asked me not to discuss his care with anyone.” The redheaded girl deflated instantly, her curiosity about the hot silent youth going unquenched.

            “Sorry, HIPAA is the law.” Naruto chuckled as the girl walked off. Few minutes later, Naruto was back with gauze, a large Band-Aid and some triple antibiotic ointment. He pulled out a syringe out of his breast pocket and laid it on the counter. Then got some blood draw tubes and a needle out that he needed for the tests.

            “I don’t usually draw blood, you sure you don’t want the lab to come collect it? They are much gentler at this than I am.” Naruto smiled, as he got his things ready.

            “No, you’ll do.” Sasuke replied quickly, not liking to have more people involved than was absolutely necessary.

            “Suit yourself, but I have to warn you that this may take more than one poke.”

            “I can handle pain.” Sasuke replied in a flat tone.

            “Of that, I have no doubt.” Naruto looked over the other man.

            _But do you **like** pain? That is the question. _ Naruto tied the _tourniquet_ on Sasuke’s upper arm, swabbed the inside of his elbow with some rubbing alcohol before palpitating the area for a good vein. A few moments later, he had several vials of blood.

            “You’re not as bad as you say.” Sasuke smirked after the process was done, feeling almost no pain during the process.

            “I don’t particularly like causing pain to those who don’t enjoy it.” Naruto glanced up at Sasuke, his tone taking on the double meaning. Sasuke looked at the blue eyes and caught the obvious statement behind them.

            “What makes you think I don’t enjoy pain?” He asked, his eyes amused. Naruto sighed, and shook his head.

            “Call it a hunch I suppose.”

            _I guess he is not ready to admit to this yet._ Naruto stood up after having Sasuke hold pressure over the puncture wound. He picked up the syringe. “Rocephin, antibiotic.” He explained before cleaning off a spot with an alcohol wipe on the upper arm, and injecting it. Sasuke didn’t flinch as the needle penetrated his skin and muscle, his eyes growing cold and distant at the feeling. Naruto saw the detached gaze, not liking it one bit.

            _If this is his response to pain, I can’t imagine it going any better when it comes to his extracurricular activities._ _Fucking amateur Doms. He is going to break him before he even had the chance to live a little._ Naruto’s concern was etched on his face as he went about rinsing the bite mark again and applying some ointment before covering it with a large dressing.

            “All done here, you can put your shirt back on.” Naruto tossed his gloves in the red biohazard bin and sat down in front of the other man. The muscles under his ivory skin stretched and flexed as Sasuke put on his shirt, wincing as his elbow caught the edge of the fabric, pulling on the band-aid.

            “Sasuke--” Naruto started, unable to mask his worried tone this time.

            Sasuke glared down at him. “Save it, doc.” He was not about to sit through another lecture about something the blond had no idea about. Naruto sighed in frustration, running a hand though his hair.

            “Fine.” He finally said, then took out a business card and wrote on it. “Here, this is my cell number.” Sasuke took the card with a questioning look.

            “Do you hand all of your patients your personal number?”

            “No.” Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. “So if ends up in the wrong hands, I’ll know who did it.” He said warningly, but smiled nonetheless.

            “What do you want me to do with this?” Sasuke eyed the card in his hands.

            “I want you to call me if something happens and you need help. I don’t want you waiting three days until you die on me.” He said in a serious tone. Naruto was honestly worried about the raven. With how things were progressing, it was only a matter of time until it caused irreversible damage. He could relate to Sasuke; an inexperienced youth discovering what the dark side holds. But with an amateur to boot? This was a recipe for disaster.

            “Hn.” Was the only reply he got, but Sasuke pocketed the card anyway.

            “Some of the blood work should take a couple of hours, but blood cultures will be a few days.” Naruto signed the papers on the counter. “I’m sending you home on an antibiotic, Bactrim. Do you want to wait for your blood work to be done, or shall I just call you if I see anything abnormal?” Normally he didn’t let his patients go so soon before he knew the results, but Sasuke was a 25-year-old with a good immune system, stable vital signs and without any signs of sepsis, his blood work was just a precaution.

            “Call me if you find something.” Sasuke hopped off the table, glad to not have to go back to the waiting room. Naruto nodded.

            “Sure. Here’s some antibacterial ointment for you. Make sure you take the dressing off and let it breathe throughout the day, just keep it covered if you have a shirt on.” Naruto put the supplies in a brown paper bag and handed it to the raven along with his checkout papers. Sasuke reached for the bag but before Naruto let go, he got his last warning.

            “Sasuke, be careful. Please.” The raven reached the door, but paused when he turned the handle.

            “Thanks, doc.” His quiet tone, barely audible, sounded painfully sad and lonely to the blond. Naruto gave him a careful nod, before Sasuke walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

            _No person should ever be that miserable when they have a Dom._ His mind was acutely aware of the other’s pain. _That toxic relationship does not represent the bond between a Dominant and his submissive. Whatever it is between them, it is nothing but a shell, a mockery of what it’s really like to have someone who lives and breaths only for you._

“Be safe Sasuke, and I hope that asshole gets what’s coming to him.”

 

 

 

 

SOOOO…. what do you think? If you like it, let me know. If I get enough feedback, I have the next chapter mostly written and Ill post it quicker. Or at least leave a KUDOS, so i know you liked it. 

 

 


	2. On-Call

**Thank you for the comments! You’re the only reason this story is moving along as quickly as it is!** Thank you my wonderful beta x-psychicfire-x!!!

 

**Chapter 2: On-call**

 

Naruto received the lab results earlier and printed off a copy in case he needed to send them to Sasuke. Looking over the numbers in from of him, which for the most part were fine. Sasuke was a bit dehydrated, and his white count was elevated; but that was to be expected with any kind of infection. The bite on Sasuke’s back wasn’t the worst he’d ever seen, but it definitely had the potential to turning into something nasty. Naruto sat in his dark brown leather chair, enjoying a cup of tea on his time off as he looked over the rest of the panels in the comfort of his own home.

            _Well, at least the STD and hepatitis panels are negative..._ He sighed in relief. _He should get tested again in 6 months to be sure though. Even if he doesn’t seem like the type to use drugs, with risky behavior like that, it’s not a long way to go…_

For some reason tonight, he couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling about Sasuke out of his head. The way he neglected his own safety through the reckless sex; even if it’s just with one partner. Naruto really didn’t like how things were, but he also couldn’t fathom a reason for why he should be so worried about the other man. He was a physician, and Sasuke was his patient. To Naruto, maintaining distance, and a professional decorum was important and he has never been accused of any type of misconduct. He laid his head against the back of the chair, closing his eyes.

            _Nevertheless, as a doctor, I have the right to be concerned about my patients..._ Naruto thought about the bite mark, and the low-grade fever that the other presented with yesterday. Because of his age and being immunocompetent, Sasuke did not qualify for admission. Plus, he knew that the raven would never stay in the observation unit where nurses and other staff could bother him every few minutes. So he did the best he could to treat him for any potential infections.

Naruto went about his evening as normal, making himself dinner and getting caught up on The Walking Dead. He was off for the next few days because he had covered for Shikamaru last night. He tried not to completely adjust his schedule on his time off, so he slept well into midday. But now, it was almost 9pm and that troublesome feeling – like an itch that he just couldn’t scratch - wouldn’t leave. Staring at the clock for another five minutes, his resolve slipped.

            _What’s the worst that could happen? He is fine. And it’s not like it’s uncommon for a doctor to call and check on their patient. That’s just practicing good medicine…_

Naruto walked over to his desktop where his dictation area was set up for nights when he didn’t want to stay in the hospital to finish his notes. Booting up the machine, he logged into the hospital medical records and brought out his recent patients’ list.

            _Sasuke Uchiha…_ He looked through the information on the screen. _I’m not surprised his address is only 10 minutes away from me. This is a pretty small town…_ He looked for the phone number. No emergency contact was listed, but at least Sasuke left them his cell. Picking up his phone he looked at the time, hoping it wasn’t too late for a phone call. Naruto dialed the number, waiting for the series of dial tones. After almost 30 seconds, no one was picking up. _Well, I guess I’ll just leave a message…._ Then came a sleepy sounding voice.

            “…Hello?” The raven finally answered at the last second before the voicemail kicked in. Naruto’s heart picked up the pace, surprised to hear from the man directly.

            “Sasuke?” A pause.

            “Yeah _?_ ” His voice sounded raspy. The breaths coming over the receiver sounded like he had been walking too fast.

            “Hey. This is Dr. Uzumaki. I’m sorry to call you so late.” Another pause. Naruto listened for any signs of how his patient was doing. He didn’t like the sound of the increased respiratory rate.

            “Hey doc.” Sasuke finally said. “Did anything comeback on my tests?”

            “Nothing too alarming. Elevated white blood cell count was to be expected; but besides being dehydrated and slightly anemic, the labs look good. But the blood cultures are still pending. Preliminary results have shown no bacterial growth so far.” Naruto explained, listening to the quick breaths on the other side.

            “That’s good…” Sasuke replied with a yawn, his voice dragging a bit.

            “How are you feeling?” Another pause.

            “Meh, I guess.” The slurring of speech was a bit more apparent this time. Naruto’s brows furrowed.

            “Sasuke, did you pick up those antibiotics I prescribed?” Another long pause. “Sasuke?”

            “Mmm? Umm, no I haven’t had the chance.” His voice sounded distant, like he just laid the phone next to him. The hair on the back of Naruto’s neck stood out up.

            _Damn it..._ “Sasuke, do you have a fever?”

            “I dunno.” The raven said after a long pause. “I feel really cold right now, so probably not.”

            _Curses.._. “How fast is your heart rate? Put your hand on your pulse and tell me if it feels like it’s racing.” Naruto’s doctor instincts were on alert; this was not good. He relied on Sasuke getting his medicine, but since the raven hadn’t for whatever reason; it was likely that the infection was getting worse. A shot of Rocephin can only do so much. A few more moment’s ways by.

            “I guess it feels kind of fast.” The sleepy voice said.

            “Sasuke, can you get to the hospital? I think your infection is getting worse.” Naruto asked, hoping that the raven would comply. “You could call an ambulance.”

            “Nah…” A yawn. “I’m fine doc, just tired...” He mumbled, the voice trailing off.

            “I don’t think you’re fine, Sasuke. You need medical treatment.” Naruto tried to keep the urgency from his voice. “I’m going to call an ambulance for you.”

            That got an instant response. “No!” The alarm in Sasuke’s voice apparent. “I’ll be fine. I just need some sleep. Thanks for calling, but I’ll be ok doc.”

            “Sasuke…” Naruto started, trying to change his mind.

            ‘’I’m fine doc, have a good night.” Sasuke’s cold tone chilled the blond.

            “Sasuke I don’t think…” But his words were left unheard, the raven had hung up. “Damn it Sasuke!” Naruto glared at his phone, debating on what to do. He could just ignore the man and call an ambulance. Sasuke likely won’t answer the door, so they’d have to break it down to get to him. He was sure that would piss the man off tremendously.

            _And he’ll probably never trust me again_. _Or_ _I could do nothing..._ Naruto thought, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach made him sure that that wasn’t an option.

            “Fucking millennials, always thinking they know best.” Naruto’s frustration was evident.

 _I guess all 20 something year olds think they’re invincible..._ Naruto looked at the computer, the screen with Sasuke’s demographics was still up. After a few moments of thinking it through, he gave up.

            “I guess I’ll be making a house call, like they used to back in the day.” Naruto stood, running a hand through his blond hair. Walking over to one of his supply closets, he opened the door. As a physician in the northern part of the country and a bit of a prepper, Naruto liked to keep a stock of some emergency supplies. He took down a black duffle bag, looking over his choice of antibiotics. He picked the ones that came in an IV form and did not require any lab work to monitor. Naruto put few bags and vials in the duffle, picked up several liters of IV fluids for volume repletion, some nausea medication, IV kit supplies, and a good amount of bandages and antibacterial ointment. Taking note of the rest of his stores, he would have to restock later but he had still had plenty if something happened. He added in his stethoscope, blood pressure cuff and a pulse ox in for good measure, as well as a bottle of Tylenol in the bag before he turned off the light.

            “That brat better be grateful for this.”

 

oOoOoOo

 

Naruto pulled up his black Jeep Cherokee next to the apartment building, eyeing the address on his phone. Getting out, he grabbed the duffle from the back seat and walked up the path, taking the elevator to the top floor. Checking the address again, he paused at the door, adjusting his duffle on his shoulder. Naruto considered what he was doing. He wasn’t technically breaking any laws; but he knew how hard it was for Sasuke to open up. This whole exercise may backfire completely. Nevertheless, he knocked and waited. And waited. He tried again, but still got no answer. Taking out his cell, he dialed Sasuke’s number. He could hear the faint ringtone coming through the door.

            _Well at least he is still here.._. Naruto thought and tried to knock again after the phone went to voice mail.

            _Damn it_ … His worry about the raven not answering the door or phone making his insides clench. He knocked again.

            _Shit, I may have to call an ambulance after all..._ He knocked again.

            “Sasuke! Open up!” The apartment door next to his opened, and a white haired guy stepped out. Glaring at the tall blond man that was pounding on his neighbor’s door.

            “What’s all the commotion?” The man said.

            “Hi. Sorry to bother you. But do you know your neighbor?”

            “You mean Sasuke? What do you need with him?” Naruto wasn’t about to violate any doctor/patient privacy laws, so he tried his best to stay as general as possible.

            “I’m a friend. I talked to him earlier and he wasn’t feeling too well. I got worried and came over, but he isn’t answering the door.” Naruto looked back at the door.

            “Now that you say that, I think he was under the weather yesterday.” The man looked thoughtful.

            “Do you think the apartment manager may have a key? I’m considering calling an ambulance.” Naruto ran his hand through his hair.

            “That bad?” He asked eyeing the bag. “What’s with the duffle?”

            “I’m a doctor. I brought some supplies in case he needed them.” Naruto said honestly. The man raised his eyebrows and looked him over.

            “Wait here.” The man walked back into his apartment, closing the door behind him. Naruto hoped that he wasn’t calling the cops on him. After a minute, the man came back. “Here, I have this for emergencies and in my opinion this probably counts as an emergency. Sasuke may disagree. He is a grouchy bastard, as you know.” He walked to Sasuke’s door with a key. Naruto gave him a nod.

“Thanks.”

            “I’m Suigetsu, by the way.” He gave him a handshake.

            “Naruto.” Suigetsu opened the front door. Taking a few steps inside, Naruto followed him taking in the minimally decorated interior. The walls were painted in neutral tones that came with most basic apartments. The place was clean, almost sterile and lacking any personal touches. They walked by the small kitchen off to the side which was also tidy and unremarkable. It felt like Sasuke was a visitor in here, reluctant to make this place his home.

            “Hey Sasuke! You ok man?” Suigetsu yelled, hoping that Sasuke would emerge well and unharmed.

            _Oh man, please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead…_ Suigetsu prayed.

            “I hope this is not that boyfriend of his doing.” Naruto glared at the back of his head, his distaste for the unknown man apparent all over his face as they walked up to bedroom door. Suigetsu knocked on the bedroom door.

            “Go away Suigetsu.” Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Suigetsu opened the door against the protests. Sasuke was laying in his bed under a mountain of blankets, only a few hairs sticking out from underneath the cover. This space was less barren than the rest of the apartment, showing some personality. Few pictures hung on the walls; most were close-ups of buildings with hard angles and interesting textures that made it difficult to discern what the image was as a whole. A few scattered articles of clothing were haphazardly thrown on a chair next to the bed. Overall, the place still looked much cleaner than what a normal twenty-five year old should have.

            “Suigetsu, what part of ‘go away’ do you not get?” Sasuke’s voice sounded tired, but the irritation in it was front and center. “I’m naked, get the hell out.” Mumbled the mass of blankets.

            “And that’s my cue to leave. I got no interest in seeing your pale ass.” Suigetsu turned around. “Next time, answer your goddamned phone.” He walked out of the room. “Nice to meet you Naruto, good luck with him.” Suigetsu grinned.

The pile of blankets sat up suddenly, its inhabitant letting out a groan at the quick motion. Then, finally a face emerged from the warm cocoon. Sasuke’s cheeks looked flushed, and sheen of sweat covering his head and neck, his white t-shirt almost clinging to him. His glare lost some of the force behind him, but he was able to get the point across as he starred at the tall, blond doctor in his doorway.

            “What are you doing here?” Sasuke asked coldly. “Didn’t I tell you that I didn’t need your help?” Naruto rolled his eyes, ignoring him. Judging by how Sasuke looked right now, he should consider taking him to the hospital. He placed his duffle bag on the chair next to the bed.

            “You look like you’re at death’s door.” Naruto said, looking around the room. “You need medical attention, whether you like it or not.” His blue eyes locking with onyx ones in contest. “And the way I see it, you have two choices. You can let me treat you here or I can call 911 and have them come get you.”

            “I won’t go.” Sasuke said stubbornly.

            “It’s not up to you. As a physician, I can declare you not competent to make your own decisions.” Naruto crossed his arms, his chin raised slightly in a challenge. The broad shoulders projecting the authority he possessed, and his eyes daring Sasuke to defy him. Sasuke sighed and considered his options. He felt like shit, but he was hoping to stick it out and let it pass. After a deep sigh, he finally gave in.

            “Fine. You can treat me here.”

            “Good.” Naruto gave him a small smile. “Now, you need to know that if anything happens to you, you can’t hold me liable. If you don’t agree, we can go to the hospital.”

            “Whatever.” Sasuke said, falling back down on the bed and letting out another groan.

            “I need a yes, Sasuke.”

            _Preferably a Yes, **Sir** … _Sasuke glared at him, but complied.

            “Yes.” Sasuke muttered. Naruto opened up his bag, getting the tools out to check him over. Taking his pulse, oxygen saturation, temperature and blood pressure. He deemed the youth to be stable enough for treatment here.

            “Just so you know; if you get worse, I’m taking you to the hospital even if I have to sedate you.” Naruto said, getting out the rest of his things. Sasuke didn’t reply, but his eyes followed the man’s movements. He watched Naruto get out the bags of fluid, and the IV starter kit. Along with a couple of bottles, breaking the seals on them he shook out a few pills. Naruto walked out of the room to the kitchen that he passed by earlier, picking up a random glass and filling it with water from the sink.

            “What are these for?” Sasuke eyed him suspiciously when the blond returned.

            “Tylenol for fever, and Zofran for nausea.” Naruto said, handing him the glass and tablets. Sasuke took the meds without another word, swallowing the cool water. He hasn’t realize how thirsty he was, downing the entire glass quickly.

            “When did you eat last?” Naruto asked, putting on some disposable gloves. Sasuke paused, thinking back on his last meal. After the hospital, he came home wanting to take a nap. He planned to grab some dinner on the way to the pharmacy to pick up with prescription, but he got too tired and decided to just sleep instead.

            “Sometime before I saw you, I guess.” Naruto nodded. Bringing his supplies closer to the raven and with a bit of difficulty, getting an IV started. The man was so dehydrated, his veins were hard to find. Naruto hooked up the bag of fluid and used a small clip to hang it on the wooden bedframe above him. Adding another bag with antibiotics, he connected it to the lines allowing the gravity set the rate of infusion.

            “I’m going to make you some broth, do you have anything in the kitchen that I could use?” Naruto asked, after he was satisfied with the set up. Taking off his gloves with a snap and tossing them into the near by trash basket.

            “You don’t need to do that. You got the medicine going, just let me sleep. I’ll be fine, you can go.” Sasuke grumbled. Naruto starred down at the man, his patience wearing thin by the bratty attitude.

            “Sasuke, this will be the last time I’m going to say this.” Naruto’s tone was measured, controlled, as if he had all the time in the world. “I’m not going anywhere until I objectively know you’re doing better.” His electric blue eyes pinned the raven to the bed, the gaze not showing an ounce of give. Sasuke stayed quiet, too tired to argue with him, but a chill ran down his spine as the powerful look froze him stiff.

            _Who the hell is this guy?_ Sasuke wondered as he watched the man turn around and walk out of the room. He heard the fridge door and some cupboards open. The next thing he remembered was being shaken awake, a gentle voice bringing his out of his slumber. He opened his eyes; Naruto was sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling his forehead. He felt a lot better, surprisingly.

            “It looks like your fever broke.” Naruto said softly and gave him a small smile.

            “Yeah, I feel better.” Sasuke paused. He saw three empty bags of IV fluid next to the bed, raising his eyebrow in question.

            “I gave you a bolus, after I made sure your IV didn’t infiltrate.” The blond explained. “You were pretty dehydrated. I bet you haven’t even had to pee today.” Naruto chuckled. “Anyways, I made some chicken broth. You had the ingredients I needed for that. Think you can eat some?” Sasuke thought about it for the moment.

“I think so. But now that you mentioned it, I do have to go to the bathroom.” Naruto nodded, clamping off his IV and unscrewing the line from the site.

            “Think you can stand up?” Naruto asked.

            “Tsk. Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Sasuke said, not wanting to be treated like a child. Naruto stood up, allowing Sasuke to swing his legs around and raise himself out of the bed with some minor difficulty. He caught the raven just as he started swaying, almost loosing his balance completely. Ignoring Sasuke’s glare, Naruto put his arm around his waist supporting the other man.

            “I’m not having you fall down and hit your head.” Naruto moved them towards the bathroom. Walking in, he let Sasuke hold on to the counter and the shower door handle. Making sure he was steady enough on his own he stepped out of the room, but kept the door open and stayed within a quick reach in case the raven lost his balance again. After relieving himself, Sasuke leaned on the sink washing his hands and taking a look in the mirror. He looked ridiculous. His hair looked messy; greasy in some spots, limp and damp in the others from the sweating. This white T-shirt was gross looking, with spots of yellow that spread around the collar. He finished washing his hands, feeling slightly steadier on his feet. He had a feeling that Naruto was not going to let him take a shower by himself, and he wasn’t going to let the other man watch his every move. He took off his shirt and tossed it in the hamper. Washing his face, Sasuke ran his hands through his hair to at least get the few tangles out and brushed his teeth. Finally feeling a bit more human, he walked out of the bathroom.

            “We need to get some food in you.” Naruto said walking back the desk next to the bed, where large mug of soup sat steaming. Sasuke went to pick out another t-shirt, but Naruto stopped him. “I need to look at your back; but you can eat first.”

“Hn.” Sasuke walked back to the bed and sat down, crossing his legs Indian style. Taking the soup and tasting the chicken flavor on his tongue, he suppressed a moan that threatened to come out. He was hungry, and the salty broth was satisfying his taste buds like nothing else right now.

Naruto hooked him back up to the IV. He still had another half liter to finish. He grabbed a few other supplies from his bag to address the wound on his back after Sasuke finished eating. Sitting down in the chair next to the bed, he picked up the book he was looking through while Sasuke slept. He had found it on the bookshelf and decided to pass the time with it. It was a black and white photography book, but the subject of the photos was very familiar to him. The intricate rope designs and thoughtful staging of shadows and light graced each page with new excitement. Sasuke saw the book Naruto was looking at, but chose to ignore it since the doctor knew the gist of what he was into already. After another 10 minutes of slow eating, he was done with the soup. Naruto set the book down and went back into the bathroom, grabbing couple of towels. He laid them out on the bed, needing to clean and redress the wound; but not wanting to soak the sheets.

            “Lay face down on the towels.” He directed Sasuke, who was now complying without too much resistance. His belly full of warm liquid made him much more pliable. Naruto eyed the now almost a day old bandage that he put on the youth’s back at the hospital. “I was hoping you had someone who could help you with this.” Naruto said, unsticking the tape and peeling it off. Sasuke didn’t reply, his face was turned toward the wall so the doctor couldn’t see his expression. Naruto filled a small container with saline and used a large piece of gauze to clean off the old ointment and drainage that has seeped, making sure to pay special attention to the edges and assessing the degree of infection. Overall, it didn’t look any worse than yesterday. After he was satisfied that the bite mark was clean, he rinsed the gauze in some saline and brought it back to Sasuke’s back. He ran the cloth around the wound, expanding the perimeter and then went across to the other shoulder and up Sasuke’s neck. He paused when he felt the man stiffen.

            “I’m sure you feel gross, and I’m not going to leave you alone in the shower.” Naruto said, answering the silent question. He continued to wash down his back, rinsing out the fabric occasionally. After a few minutes, Sasuke finally relaxed a bit allowing him to continue. Naruto looked at the man on the bed. The pale skin finally didn’t have the sickly hue to it. His back was strong, the muscles apparent even while relaxed. His broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist, two dimples decorated his lower back. Goosebumps ran across the pale skin when the cool cloth skirted his sides. The few bruises he had seen the other day had mostly faded. Thinking about them made Naruto’ chest tighten.

            “Why are you doing this?” The question distracted Naruto from his thoughts of wanting to take a pound of flesh from whomever had been doing this to the man with such disregard. Naruto didn’t answer, but continued his actions. He wasn’t sure why he was here, acting like a concierge physician for this man who was refusing help at every turn. After a minute of getting no answer, Sasuke slowly sat up facing the blond doctor. Naruto looked back at him, his eyes unreadable. He set the cloth down. If Sasuke was willing to talk, then he was game for it. Naruto sat back on the bed, leaning against the wooden headboard.

            “Sasuke, why isn’t your Dom here to take care of you?” Naruto asked, his tone steady. No judgment in his voice. He had many other questions, but he figured Sasuke wouldn’t tell him anything if they were too intrusive. He wanted to keep the communication channels open. Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly, the only sign of his surprise before he clenched his jaw and looked away. After a few more moments, Sasuke finally spoke.

            “He is busy. And I’m not really sure that he is _my_ Dom, it’s more like he is _a_ Dom.” The blank look in his eyes giving away as much as words themselves to someone who was fluent in reading body language. Naruto observed the man, but the concealed anger still coursed though his veins.

            “So you’re telling me that you don’t have a contract, not even a verbal one?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

            “Someone has been reading too much _50 Shades of Grey_.” Sasuke said, Naruto smirked at the joke.

            “Sasuke, do you love him?” This was a very private question, but he needed to know the motive for Sasuke’s actions and the answer would reveal something about them. Sasuke bristled. The face taking on a stone look, followed by a hard:

            “That’s none of your business. But if you must know, no.” That was the truth without question.

            _Interesting_ … _So he subs for a Dom that does not belong to him, and it’s not because of love._

            “Why are you with him?” Naruto asked. Sasuke thought about the question, no longer sure how this pertained to his treatment; but answered anyway. He figured the man has done enough for him to earn some insight.

            “It’s a small town, I guess anyone is better than nothing.” He said dismissively. Naruto nodded, knowing how hard it would have been for him if he was in Sasuke’s situation.

            “How long has he been a Dominant?”

            “Probably about six months I think. We met online and had _compatible_ interests.” Sasuke replied, not looking at the doctor.

            _Just what I thought, barely got his feet wet and already damaging his submissive. Disgraceful…_

            “Sasuke, what if you did have another choice. What if you could choose to stay with your current Dominant or you can have someone new. Someone to take better care of you, someone who actually knows what they’re doing?” Naruto chose his words carefully, punctuating the meaning behind them with each syllable. He thought out his proposal as he sat watching over the sleeping man for the last several hours. The decision to suggest such an arrangement was not easy, many variables hung in the balance, but looking over the sick man as he slept, he couldn’t help wanting to do something. Naruto feared that Sasuke would not stop seeing the Dom until it was too late. _It would be such a waste to see you broken, physically or mentally._ Sasuke looked over at him, his brows furrowed in confusion.

            “Who are you talking about?” Sasuke looked over the doctor, considering their conversation, his knowledge and ability to figure out the source of his injuries. “You?” He asked surprised. Naruto gave him a small nod, his eyes unwavering. There was no lust or desire behind his gaze, just patience.

            “I could teach you what being a submissive really means.” He said it as if they were discussing the weather.

            “Please.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, his tone condescending. “What could you possibly know about this?” He asked, almost laughing at the thought of Naruto being a Dominant. He was just too happy; smiling too much, carrying too much. But those eyes… those eyes looked like the eyes of a predator.

            “Sasuke.” Naruto’s commanding voice stopped the man in his tracks. “I can assure you that my reputation in the community speaks for itself.” His cerulean eyes steady. Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

            “I’ve never heard of you.” He said, not convinced.

            “You are correct. You’ve never heard of Naruto Uzumaki.” Naruto said with a sly smile and a glint in his eye that said he knew a secret. Sasuke swallowed loudly, unsure how the conversation changed to the subject of him dropping his Dom for the doctor. He clearly saw that Naruto lacked boundaries, barging into his home like this without permission. There was no way he could let someone like that get closer to him. There were too many things hidden. Even if his current Dom was kind of awful at least he didn’t ask; and for that he was grateful.

            “I’ll let you think about it.” Naruto said, breaking their gaze and changing the topic. “Let’s finish getting that nasty bite mark treated, shall we?” Naruto gave him a smile, then pulled out some ointment and reached over to Sasuke’s shoulder slathering it on the wound. Sasuke stayed quiet during the process, still unsure of how he got into this situation. Here he was, letting almost a complete stranger help him when he was sick and vulnerable. A stranger that just offered his expertise in not just medicine.

            _It’s not like this is the worst thing I’ve let strangers do, now is it?_ Sasuke asked himself. But he was unsure of the answer. _Sex is one thing, but this… this is intimate. The last time someone was this close to me was…_ His train of thoughts stopped. _No need to go there now_.

Naruto noticed the faraway look in Sasuke’s eyes as he finished applying the ointment and covering the area with a bandage. He kept his hand still on top of the covering, wondering how long it would take Sasuke to notice he was done. He could tell that the man was drowning in a memory, oblivious to the world. His curiosity peaked even more. Ever since he has met the youth, he has been wondering about what was driving him to seek release in such a way. Looking at him, he could guess that it had something to do with that memory that was making him shut down more than he cared to witness right now.

            “Sasuke.” It took a second for the raven to realize that he was sitting there, starring into space like an idiot. A blush threated to spill, but he scoffed and shook the hand off his back.

            _What’s with me today? Oh, right, I know..._ Sasuke counted how many days it had been since he’s seen the Dom.

            “I’m going to leave that covered tonight while you sleep. You’re not completely out of the woods yet, and you still need antibiotics. So I’m leaving the IV in.” Naruto explained, hoping the man didn’t protest. But for it almost looked like he was ignoring him. “I’ll be back with another dose of antibiotic tomorrow. Do you need a note for work or anything?” Naruto asked. He brought a prescription pad with him, just in case. Sasuke sighed, feeling almost exhausted by the prospect of having this man around him again. There was something about him that made the hairs on the back on his neck stand up, while at the same time his soul felt soothed. The thought made him chest ache.

            “I get the feeling that you’ll do whatever you want even if I say no.” Sasuke said, feeling the exhaustion taking over again.

            “That is incorrect, Sasuke. I will do what I think is best in my medical opinion when it comes to your health. But when it comes to anything else, **no means** **no**.” Naruto’s tone punctuated the last three words, convening the hidden meaning to the raven.

            Sasuke smirked. “What if I’m into rape fantasy role-play?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow in a challenge. Whatever strength he had was leaving him, but he wasn’t just going to give in to the good doctor. Naruto chucked, the vibrations warming Sasuke’s chest.

            “Sasuke, we both know you’re not into that.” Naruto said with conviction. He was sure about few things, and this was definitely one of them. Sasuke laid back down, finally giving up against remaining upright.

            “I’m a freak, you never know…” He mumbled, his eyes closing. Naruto frowned. Self-deprecations did not suit the man. In his eyes, Sasuke was strong and proud. Yeah, there probably was some emotional baggage he dragged around with him, but who didn’t?

            _Hell, I’m surprised he is even a sub..._ Naruto thought. _I bet he is terrible at being a submissive…_ The thought made him chuckled quietly, a smile slowly spread as he imagined Sasuke trying to follow even the simplest of instructions.

Soon, he could see the even breaths coming from the man. His sleeping face, relaxed, free of that perpetually cold look that marred his features. Naruto took a minute to appreciate the beauty of the sleeping form. His long black lashes that matched his hair lay against the high cheekbones that looked almost delicate. His naturally pale milky skin was still speckled with faint bruises from before, showing off his toned torso. The man was lean and powerful, not bulky like Naruto. His long, toned limbs made him just a few inches shorter than the doctor’s 6’4” statute. Naruto ran his hand through his blond hair, re-directing his eyes from tracing the slopes of his shoulders and down his stomach. He stood up, grabbing some medical tape before closing off the IV and unhooking the line. He taped the site down securely, just in case Sasuke tossed and turned tonight. The youth looked significantly better already. His fever was gone, and his vital signs were stable.

            _I bet he’ll be sleeping for at least 12 hours..._ Naruto eyed the keys laying on the desk. He was planning on being back sometime in the late morning. _I’d hate to have to wake up Suigetsu to get me in here again..._

            “Sasuke,” Naruto whispered, not really wanting to wake up the man. “I’m taking your keys, I’ll be back in the late morning.” He received a non-committal groan. _I take that as an OK…_ He thought. Knowing that in no way that Sasuke would probably agree to this if was actually awake, but he didn’t have many other options. He covered up the sleeping form with the blanket and picked up a few of his things, tossing them into his duffle. Grabbing his coat, he took a last look at the sleeping man, making sure he had a glass of water next to the bed in case he woke up thirsty, and left a small light on in the bathroom in case he needed to go and became disoriented because of his illness. He wished he could stay and watch over him, but it was most likely unnecessary; and he was sure that Sasuke would not appreciate him being here the entire night. Taking one last look, he opened the bedroom door and shut it quietly behind him, not noticing the onyx eyes watching him leave.

 

 

 ...

 

Soooooo? What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and suggestions. **You guys are my inspiration!** And PLEASE if you see me get something wrong about the D/s portion of this story, let me know. At least leave a KUDOS, if you like it enough. Your feedback means a lot to me, if you can't tell. 

 

Also, the first chapter of **Your Mess is Mine** is up, in case you haven’t seen it. It is a much slower plot, but I think it will balance out this story, not that they are related in any way. Although, if there are only a small handful of people interested in reading it, I may or may not continue it. I’ve got a good plot lined up for it, but if you hate it, what’s the point? But, I will give it a few chapters before I make the decision about its future. This may be put on a hiatus until im done with To Your Knees. 

 


	3. The Wrong Way

**Thank you for all of the comments; they are the reason why this update came out so soon!** It’s always encouraging to be writing and having an email notification pop up saying someone liked the story.

A warning guys, this is a BDSM themed story, so there is some of that in here.

 

A big thank you to my wonderful beta x-psychicfire-x for helping me edit.

 

 

**Chapter 3: The Wrong Way**

Sasuke felt groggy. The fog of his sleep receded as something woke him up when the warm blanket cocoon was disturbed as a body sat down next to him on the bed. Not wanting to let go of his much-needed sleep, he tried to roll over and ignore whoever it was.

            “I don’t think so, Sasuke.” Sasuke groaned, realizing whose voice it was.

            “What are you doing here?” The raven mumbled into his pillow.

            “Sasuke, you’re the one who wanted me come earlier. I won’t be available for the next two days after this, remember?” He said, uncovering the man more, taking in the new addition of the IV in his arm. Sasuke thought about it. The last few days were kind of a blur due to his illness. Then last night’s foggy memories came back to him bit by bit. At this moment, he didn’t really want to deal with the Dom. However, if the man wasn’t available for the next several days, it couldn’t be helped. Finally clearing the cobwebs of his mind, he sat up looking over at the other man.

            “What happened?” The Dom asked, his brown eyes looking at the IV site. His voice indicating more of a curiosity of the situation, no actual concern was evident in his monotone tone.

            “It’s nothing.” Sasuke said flatly, ignoring the question. “I’m fine.” The other man shrugged. If Sasuke said he was fine, he wasn’t going to question him.

The raven looked at the nightstand next to his bed; the clock indicated it was almost 7 am. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. He had texted the Dom last night after the doctor left about moving up their session, but didn’t expect him to show up at this ungodly hour. Sasuke thought about his options. He still wasn’t 100% back to normal, although he was feeling significantly better than he had been over the last 2 days. However, Sasuke was on the edge. He thought about the doctor, and how his actions triggered suppressed memories from long ago. As if his sleep needed to provide any more evidence, he shuddered at the recurrent dream turned nightmare. He needed this. He could not wait for two more days.

            “So, are we doing this?” The man finally asked, watching Sasuke’s silent contemplation.

            “Yeah.” Sasuke said, yawning and running a hand through his messy hair. His normal style nonexistent as his locks stuck out every which way. “Just give me a few minutes to take a shower.” Sasuke said, uncovering the rest of himself.

            “No.” It was an order. Sasuke paused, his feet on the floor. He raised an eyebrow in question.

            _Ew…_ “I feel pretty gross and it’s been like two days since my last shower.” Sasuke tried to object. He was always meticulous about his hygiene; but being sick and sleeping for most of the last few days, things kind of got away from him.

            “Did I ask you, boy?” Sasuke ground his teeth; he hated that name. Sasuke was glad that he didn’t didn’t look like a kid, otherwise it would be another thing to add to the pile of shit the Dom was.

            “Whatever.” Sasuke murmured under his breath, not really in the mood for this.

            “Did you say something, princess?” The Dom grabbed his jaw, pressing harshly on it, probably leaving an imprint from his thumb. Sasuke glared at him at the pet name. This was almost worse than the first.

            “I didn’t. _Dom_.” He said finally, adding the title at the end grudgingly.

            “I think we may need to reprimand you for that one.” He smirked. “How shall I punish you? I brought some new toys with me.” Sasuke clenched his fists, taking slow breaths through his nose. He watched the man stand up and open up a small suitcase he had on the desk. Taking out several items, he saw the black rope and the leather paddle that he has felt several times before. It wasn’t his favorite, but it got the job done.

            “We only have a couple of hours, I’ve got company coming over.” Sasuke said as he quickly removed his shirt, wanting to get this done.

            “Is that so?” The man looked over the ivory skin, now mostly free of the mark he left there days ago.

_We’ll have to fix that..._ Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed, waiting to see what was in store for today. The Dom walked over to him, rope in hand.

            “Taken those off.” He ordered, pointing to Sasuke’s grey pajama pants. The raven complied, leaving him in a pair of navy briefs.

            _I wish we didn’t have to go through the theatrics already..._ Sasuke thought as his body was forced downward and he watched his forearms being strapped to his shins. The man fumbled with the ropes for several minutes, resorting to pulling up an image on his phone for reference. After redoing the knots and tightening the slack for another fifteen minutes, Sasuke began to grow tired of the incompetent buffoon kneeling in front of him.

            “There. All done.” The Dom stood up, eyeing his work in appreciation. Sasuke’s hands were grasped around his ankles, his forearms flush against the outside of his shins. His elbows tied to his knees securely as his body was doubled over.

            _At least this time he didn’t chose a design that takes two hours to do..._ Sasuke thought, being thankful for small favors. A hand grabbed his hair roughly, yanking his head to look up as far as he could from his bent over form. The cold eyes reflected in his gaze. His body was shoved backwards on the bed, leaving him in an awkward position with his arms tied to his legs up in the air. The ropes allowed little room to move, if only to close his legs or spread them wider.

            “You love being my puppet, don’t you? I can do whatever I want with you.” The Dom said hungrily, seeing Sasuke mostly immobile and under his control bringing a new wave of desire. Sasuke stayed quiet as usual. His hands gripped his ankles harder to maintain his silence as he watched the lusty stare aimed at him. This wasn’t the part he needed. His body was pushed to the side, as the man gripped his hips and raised him onto his knees. Sasuke’s face was pressed into the mattress, as his underwear covered ass was up in the air for the Dom’s enjoyment. He felt the grip on his hips tighten to almost bruising force, before one hand left his side and came down sharply with a slap on his cheek.

            _Fucking finally.._. Sasuke thought as he felt the sting push the memories back. Another smack rang through the room. He felt his mind clear more with each blow, the anxious feeling in his chest subsiding. The Dom walked over to the desk, grabbing the paddle.

            “I’ll take care of you first, Sasuke.” He flexed the paddle in his hands, testing the give it had. “I know what you need.” Sasuke felt the mattress dip under the weight of the other man, and then he heard the whooshing through the air before the first blow connected with his behind. The flexible leather curving around his ass to leave a tingling sensation after the initial pain subsided. He gripped his ankles tighter, refusing to make a sound. Sasuke needed this. **Smack!** He needed to be punished. He needed to feel the pain for all the wrong he has was. Another blow, this one landing on the lower part of his glutes. This was not done for sexual release; far from it. Another hit landed on the back of his thighs. His body was taught, but his chest tightness uncoiled, leaving him in a calm daze. Another blow; all he could think about was the present and future pain. No memories of the past, no thoughts on what should have been. The man behind him was panting from exertion, his gaze roaming over the reddening flesh.

“Now time for your punishment.” He breathed heavily, getting up off the bed and walking over to his suitcase pulling out a ball gag. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. They had used it a couple of times, but it’s not as if Sasuke had a problem staying quiet. He hoped that if he needed the gag, his next punishment would provide him with enough stimuli to keep the dreams away for at least a week.

            “Bite down on this.” He ordered, placing the ball in Sasuke’s mouth and fastening the small harness over his head, then walked back to his bag. The gag was firmly in place, thanks to the raven’s face being pressed into the mattress in his awkward position. His hands were starting to fall asleep due to either clenching his ankles so tightly, or the rope cutting off his circulation, again. Sasuke watched the man walk back to the bed from the corner of his eye, but couldn’t see clearly what he took out. He heard the lube bottle pop open, then he felt him return to the bed.

            “This time, I want to make sure you _really_ enjoy yourself.” Sasuke felt his underwear shift, exposing his ass. Fingers wet with lubricant circled around his entrance, but didn’t go inside. Sasuke held his breath, unsure of what was coming next. Then he felt something hard and slick press against him, stretching him a bit before slipping inside until a small stopper prevented it from going in too far. If Sasuke had to guess, it was one of those egg shaped vibrating toys.

            _Damn it. He is determined to make me cum this time..._ He wasn’t sure if this would actually do it, but direct prostate stimulation was something that no mind had the ability to control. He wished he could sit up and ask him what was the point. He wasn’t doing this to get off, he just needed the pain to bury the memories. They had an understanding of sorts. Sasuke endured the pain, while the Dom got what he needed by taking control and satisfying his sexual needs. He felt the vibrations start, low and steady. The device snug against his prostate stimulated the gland. Sasuke suppressed a groan around that ball gag. His arms and legs trapped him from moving away, but he didn’t struggle. The Dom pulled his underwear back in place and sat down in the chair next to the bed, a smug look on his face. He held a small controller in his hand, looking at it with interest. Sasuke felt the pulsations increase a bit more, causing him to bite down on the gag.

            “Well, since it seems you won’t let yourself enjoy this while I’m watching you, how about I get us some breakfast?” The Dom stood and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. “This is your punishment, boy. Enjoy.” The man chuckled, but at least turned down the intensity on the vibrator, leaving a slow, teasing stimulation.

            _I hate you.._. Sasuke thought as he watched the man take his coat and drop the remote on the desk. Giving Sasuke one last look, he closed the door behind him. Sasuke’s dick stirred to life as soon as the other left. He took couple of deep breaths, trying to steady his body. He felt the lazy vibrations make him more sensitive, bringing more blood to the area. He tugged on his arms, trying to see if he could wiggle out of the restraints, but the motion just caused his ass to clench around the device. He couldn’t contain a moan, glad that there wasn’t anyone here to witness him in his current state. Sasuke looked down at the tent his cock was making in the underwear, the slowly spreading wetness made him groan.

            _Fuucckk…_ His thoughts became fuzzy as his breathing picked up a notch. His heart rate increasing as spikes of pleasure shot through his body. Sasuke’s cock strained against the fabric of his briefs, precum leaking profusely now. His mouth was watering and dripping around the gag since he couldn’t swallow his spit. He felt his cock pulsating, as his ass squeezed the vibrator; forcing it against his spot even more. He tried controlling his body, but it was already too far-gone. He tried shifting his legs, spread them further in hopes of lowering his pelvis to allow some friction against his erection; even if it was just his bed. However, the ropes prevented him from going much lower, and his forearms were completely asleep now. He was able to get the tip of his cock to brush against the mattress, retrained against any other contact. He groaned again in frustration, having to suffer with the bare minimal touch. After several more minutes of growing frustration, he felt his body finally build up for his release. He let out a loud moan, his eyes rolled back as his seed spilled inside his underwear. His breath heaved, his ass tightening around the vibrator as he rode the last of his orgasm. His heart rate slowed down, but the pulsations on the inside didn’t. Sasuke tried to pull on his restraints again, wanting to take out the device. He was starting to get too sensitive and it was becoming uncomfortable and getting close to painful. He bit down on the ball in his mouth and tried to extract his arms again, chafing the skin in the process. He movements became more frantic, the vibrations no longer pleasant against his prostate.

            _When I get out of these, I’m going to fucking punch that asshole..._ Sasuke thought angrily, tears threatened to spill from frustration. He heard the front door unlock and close.

_Finally!_ He sighed in relief.

           

oOoOoOo

 

Naruto looked at his watch as he walked up to Sasuke’s place, his duffle bag in hand. He had a hard time sleeping last night, having difficulty switching from nights to days, and ended up waking up after a few hours. As soon as he opened his eyes, his first thought was about Sasuke. The man has gotten to him somehow. It had been years since Naruto had let a stranger in to this degree. But he couldn’t bring himself to cut the man off. He laid in his bed for almost an hour, thinking about his proposal. He wasn’t sure what pushed him to ask Sasuke to leave his Dom. He knew that the careless man was bad news, but based on Sasuke’s response it was apparent that he wouldn’t break things off without an out. Maybe if he had someone else to take the Dom’s place, he would be more willing. Naruto planned to supply him with what he needed; gods knows he didn’t lack in experience when it came to most aspects of BDSM. In the meantime, he was going to try and find someone more suitable for Sasuke. Someone who he knew would be good for him. That is, if Sasuke accepted his offer. Naruto wasn’t fooling himself when it came to the other man. For one, he had some serious demons in the closet. And Naruto couldn’t say he was completely immune to Sasuke’s looks. However, what drew him in the most was the damaged soul that lay beneath his beauty. It was why he was a physician in the first place. His calling was to help and heal people, and sometimes, different kind of physical therapy could do more than any shrink ever could. Sasuke was a patient that he could not heal with modern medicine, but he had other tools at his disposal. Naruto smiled to himself, thinking how much pain could anchor a broken soul. But then again, so could pleasure.

            _He should he is still sleeping; it’s been less than 6 hours since I left him._ Naruto thought as the elevator took him to the top floor. Taking out the keys, he let himself in. Walking through the quiet apartment, he once again noticed the lack of personal affects in the place. His chest tightened at the emptiness the space revealed. Walking up to Sasuke’s bedroom, he didn’t bother to knock before he opened the door. It was only 7:45 in the morning, there was no way Sasuke was up yet.

 

He was wrong.

 

He was **very** wrong.

 

Naruto’s breath hitched as he took in the scene on the bed. Sasuke was bent over on his knees, black ropes tied his forearms to his lower legs. His hands were on his ankles in a death grip. He was undressed from waist up, his back bowing as his knees were spread as wide as his arms would let him. Naruto ran his eyes up at the erotic display, noticing the heavy breathing and the flushed face. Sasuke’s eyes, glistening with moisture widened beyond what should have been possible. He tried making a noise around the ball gag, but it came out jumbled. Naruto’s heart skipped a beat, his mouth opened as if to say something.

            _Holy Shit..._ He thought as he his bag dropped from his grip with a loud thud. Sasuke stared back at him, not believing that he was caught in such compromising position by the doctor.

            _It’s too early, what the hell is he doing here!?_ His mind screamed _._ _Oh My God_ , _could this get any worse?_ Sasuke’s silent question was answered by another painful jolt to his prostate. He groaned and winced at the sensation, tears prickling from the pain and humiliation of the situation. As soon as Naruto saw the distressed grimace and spasms of his back muscles, his shellshock wore off instantly. His eyes darkened, he did not like the look of this. He hurried over to the bed, kneeling next to the raven and unfastening the ball gag.

            “Untie me.” The raven gasped heavily, finally being able to get some deep breaths through his mouth. Naruto went to work on the ties immediately, but the stupid things were so poorly done, they were a bitch to undo.

            _This asshole didn’t even use the right ropes!_ Naruto was pissed.

            “Fuck!” Sasuke jolted again, the vibrator doing a number on his over-sensitized gland. Naruto paused, trying to figure out what was causing the man distress. As far as he could see, there was no obvious signs of harm. But Sasuke continued to pull against his restraints, his breathing still rapid. Something shiny caught Naruto’s eye, he looked over to the desk and saw a small silver remote. Realization dawned on him as he reached for it, pressing the off button. Sasuke moaned in relief, the painful stimuli finally stopped. But his hole spasmed reflexively, causing the object inside to rub against the nerves. Sasuke grit his teeth, refusing to make another noise.

            “I’m going to take it out.” Naruto said as he reached behind Sasuke.

            “Don’t! Ugh” Another squeeze made his breath hitch. In most circumstances, Naruto would have listened and not moved a muscle. But right now, due to the obvious pain the device was causing, he decided to ignore him. He lightly grasped the back of his underwear and slowly pulled them down just enough to expose the end portion of the vibrator.

            “I need to you take a deep breath and bear down for me, Sasuke.” Naruto said calmly. Sasuke buried his face in his mattress, wishing he could just suffocate out of existence. However, he followed the doctor’s instructions as soon as he felt him grasp the end piece.

            “Nnngh…” Sasuke groaned into the mattress at the uncomfortable feeling, but signed in relief as soon as the vibrator was out. Naruto examined the purple egg shaped head and narrow stalk that flared at the base, and tossed the thing aside, going back to work on the ropes. Giving up after a minute, he reached over to his duffle grabbing a pocket knife he kept with him.

            “I’m going to cut these, okay?” He asked, not wanting to startle the man and injure him. Sasuke didn’t respond, just looked at him then turned his head toward the wall. Naruto took his time to carefully cut the ties, freeing his limbs one by one. Sasuke felt the blood rushing to his extremities as soon as he could move them. The wicked tingle that engulfed them as soon he was free had him grinding his teeth again. Sasuke sat up, shaking his hands to try to dissipate the dead feeling. Naruto reached over grasping one foot and giving it a gentle rub, encouraging the blood flow to return. His feet and hands were too pale for his liking; the skin looked almost cyanotic compared to his normal ivory hue, but no permanent damage seem to have been done as they slowly turned pink. If he was stuck in that position for too much longer, that would have been another story. He switched to the other foot and noticed the obvious mess of his briefs, but pretended not to see. Finally, after few minutes Naruto broke the silence.

            “What happened?” He asked, trying to figure out what Sasuke was doing tied up, gagged, with no Dom in sight. This was extremely unusual in D/s community where safety was always a priority.

            “I don’t want to talk about it.” Sasuke avoided his gaze. The azure eyes always saw too much, made him tell him things he normally would never tell a stranger. Naruto kept his mouth shut, for now. This was negligence and he was going to figure out who was responsible for this. “I need a shower.” Sasuke said quickly wanting to get away from the other man, the embarrassment parading all over his face. He was pretty sure even the tips of his ears were on fire. Naruto watched Sasuke crawl over to the edge gingerly, eager to escape.

            “Don’t!” He shouted as soon as Sasuke stood up, catching him by his waist when the man toppled over in pain. “You won’t be able to walk for a while.” Sasuke’s eyes prickled at the pins and needles feeling in his feet, wanting to scream at his stupidity. This was not the first time his feet were numb, he should have known better. The arms around his waist shifted and he was picked up easily; one arm around his back, the other under his knees. Sasuke’s surprise over Naruto’s strength was replaced by a dirty look aimed at the blond.

            “I’m not a child, you can put me down.” Sasuke said in a warning tone. Naruto rolled his eyes, but gave him a smile.

            “You’re definitely not a child, but you sure are stubborn like one.” Naruto smirked at him as he carried him to the bathroom and deposited him on the edge of the shower/bathtub. The blond reached down and put in the drain stopper in, turning on some warm water. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

            “You won’t be able to stand up in the shower. And the warm water should be soothing to your… affected areas.” Naruto noticed the red marks covering the rest of Sasuke’s ass when he helped him earlier.

            “You’re not my mother, you don’t need to fuss over me.” Sasuke looked away from the bright expressive eyes.

            “Sasuke, I can assure you. I’m not here to baby you, but this is nothing out of the ordinary for me. For one; I’m your doctor, and I need to make sure you’re alright. Secondly, as a Dom; it is my duty to care for you, even if another was the cause of your injuries.” His smooth, deep voice made Sasuke think twice about questioning him.

            “Fine. But you’re not _my_ Dom, and you need to turn around or something.” Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, the tingling sensation slowly dissipating from his fingers. Naruto walked over to the doorframe, taking a seat on the floor against it with his back toward Sasuke. He heard the slight rustling of clothes and small splash as Sasuke slid into the water.

            “Do your best to keep your IV out of the water.” He said, hoping he put enough tape on it last night. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched the raven relax into the water keeping his left arm on the edge of the tub. A sigh escaped him as his shoulders loosened.

            “Why are you here so early, anyways? I thought you were coming back later.” Sasuke asked, breaking several minutes of silence that stretched between them.

            “I couldn’t sleep.” Naruto said. “The night schedule still messes with me sometimes.” It wasn’t the only reason. But Sasuke already told him not to baby him, and telling him that he was worried would just make him more guarded. Sasuke didn’t reply, turning off the water when the tub was full.

            “Sasuke, who is your Dom?” Naruto asked, he needed to know. It wasn’t curiosity this time, but genuine concern about his reckless behavior.

            “Hmm? Don’t worry about him.” Sasuke replied, closing his eyes as his strained muscles relaxed in the warm water.

            “I can’t just let this one slide, Sasuke.” Naruto’s tone was completely devoid of humor.

            “It’s fine. I’ll cut him loose next time I see him.” He murmured, not opening his eyes. His early wake up this morning was catching up to him, and the excretion his body went through to try and escape the ropes took a toll on his already limited energy. He was still sick after-all.

            “What are you going to do without him?” Naruto asked, hoping that Sasuke has considered his offer.

            “I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out somehow.” Sasuke’s quiet voice made Naruto’s chest squeeze a little tighter. Naruto looked over the raven who was slouched in the water. He couldn’t see anything past the middle of his chest, but the ivory skin shone in the dim light of the bathroom. He looked relaxed and tired, and the dark bags under his eyes showed how little sleep he had had the last few days. He was doing a number on Naruto’s protective instincts.

The blond heard a faint jingle of keys outside of the apartment. A growl threatened to escape at the realization that it was probably the Dom coming back to finish what he started. Naruto quietly got up from the floor looking over Sasuke, who was currently snoozing in the warm water. The tub was small enough that he didn’t have to worry about him sliding under. Naruto walked out of the small bathroom and through the open bedroom door, shutting it quietly behind him. Making his way past the kitchen, he saw the front door open slightly. He grabbed the doorknob and ripped it open, the fury in his eyes unleashed onto the person on the other side. The man jumped back dropping a paper bag, surprised by the unfamiliar man standing inside his sub’s apartment.

            “Who the fuck are you?” He yelled, trying to get his bearings. Naruto folded his arms on his chest, to keep them from ripping the guy’s throat out. He looked the Dom up and down, slight recognition ran through him. The man was shorter than him by several inches. His shocking red hair stood out against the pale skin. His eyes were wild with surprise, waiting for Naruto to answer. The Dom raised his voice.

“I asked, who the fuck are y--” But didn’t get to finish his sentence before Naruto reached out and wrapped his hand around the pale throat. His long fingers curled around his neck, cutting off some of the circulation and air supply. He wasn’t going to kill the guy, as much as he wished he could. The man grabbed his tan wrist, trying to struggle against him. Naruto squeezed a little, making him stop his struggle. Naruto could taste the fear radiating from him. The man tried to mouth something, but no coherent words came out.

            “Shut up, you careless piece of shit before I end you.” His icy tone meant business. The cerulean eyes burned with animosity toward the redhead. He brought the man closer to him, few inches separating their faces. “If I find out you laid another finger on Sasuke, or left him tied up and gagged alone again; I am going to do the same to you. But I will make sure that no one finds you.” His low, warning tone promised nothing but a slow demise if he was crossed.

            “Do you understand?” The blond asked, bringing the man’s face closer and practically lifting him off the floor by his neck. “Answer. Now.” The unmistakable order came. The man’s eyes widened. Naruto shoved him back and let go watching the older man stumble, cough and gasp for breath.

            “We were just -cough- doing a scene.” The man tried to say as he tried catching his breath. “Sasuke is my sub. You know what I’m talking about, you’re the same as me.” His vision was still swimming, but he could see the fire burning in those blue eyes. He narrowed his eyes, the stance, the power behind that gaze, he’s seen it somewhere before. Then it clicked. He thought that the blond looked familiar, but now he knew who he was. And he was in deep shit. The redhead tried to respond as soon as the realization washed over him, but no sound would come out.

            “I take it you know who I am, then?” Naruto saw the look of recognition pass over the man earlier. “Then you know that we are _nothing_ alike.” The man hesitated, not sure if he should just keep quiet. Being in the presence of someone like **Him** , even if he wasn’t in His good grace right now was something else.

            “You’re The Kyuubi, aren’t you?” The man looked up from his bent over position, still trying to catch his breath and not wanting to challenge the man in front of him. Naruto stayed quiet, confirming the redhead’s suspicion. “Where have you been?”

            “ _That_ is none of your concern.” Naruto replied, his tone calculating. This has gone far enough. “Your business is finished here.” Taking one last look at the worthless Dom, Naruto opened the apartment door and walked in.

The man outside grabbed his hair, letting out a deep sigh of relief. Figuring he escaped with his body and some dignity intact, he made his way to the elevators. He hoped that he had marks left on his neck, but doubted it since a Dom like that was too skilled for that. Naruto went back into the bedroom, feeling much more peaceful now. The asshole won’t be bothering Sasuke again, otherwise he knew with _whom_ he was dealing with now. Naruto almost wished that he would try something again, just so he could dish out some real punishment this time. He walked into the bathroom and looked over the raven. He couldn’t help the small smile from spreading on his face. The stubborn man was slouched in the bathtub, the warm water covering him up to his nipples. His mouth was slightly open, as soft breaths came out evenly. Naruto looked at him for several minutes, taking a moment to appreciate the situation. Sasuke did not appear to trust people easily, and for him to be comfortable with a stranger in his apartment said something. Although, with him being sick and tired he was not surprised to see him passed out.

Naruto would have been more than happy to pick the raven out of the tub and carry him to the bedroom, but he had a feeling that Sasuke would not be a fan of him pawing at his naked body. So instead, Naruto grabbed the grey fluffy towel and avoided looking anywhere near Sasuke’s nether regions. He sat on the side of the small tub, gently shaking the raven awake. Sasuke’s eyes fluttered open, eventually focusing on the blue depths. His expression unreadable to the normal person, but Naruto saw a fraction of relief pass over his face.

            “Since you’re in here, I’m going to take a look at your back.” Naruto said, he has figured out long ago that asking for permission wouldn’t get him very far. It was the same with other stubborn patients that he had. Telling them what he was doing instead of asking was usually the right way to get things done.

Sasuke used his right hand to cover his privates, for which Naruto was grateful, since anytime you were trying not to look at something your eyes only wanted to stray toward forbidden territory. Naruto put the towel on the sink counter, moving over to sit on the closed toilet lid. Sasuke silently leaned away from the wall, exposing his back to him. The doctor gently peeled the tape off, discarding it into the trashcan. Taking a nearby washcloth, he rinsed it in the still warm but cooling water and putting a bit of soap on it.

            “Now that it’s no longer open, you can rinse it with water and some soap to keep it clean. You don’t need to cover it any more, I think the infection has just about resolved.” He used the small towel to wipe his back, soaking it in a bit more water to clean way the ointment residue. Moving on to the surrounding area; he wiped Sasuke’s shoulder and up his neck, taking care to spend few extra seconds over it and putting a bit of light pressure to relieve some of the tension that collected there. Sasuke closed his eyes, a small sigh escaping his lips. He still couldn’t understand why he was letting this man touch him. Such gentle contact was forbidden, undeserved.

            “Why are you doing this?” He asked, not sure if he meant to ask himself why he was letting him do this.

            “What, give you a sponge bath?” Naruto smiled and sighed, seeing the tense look around the man’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I have given plenty of these in my residency.” He said, the statement wasn’t exactly true. He did have to give a bath once, as a punishment from one of his attending, but this was not a normal occurrence for new doctors. However seeing the look on Sasuke’s face, and his obvious aversion to feeling special, he wanted to make him relax. It worked. The frown lessened, and he released a breath he’d been holding. He figured washing Sasuke’s hair was taking it a bit too far, so he would have to stop there. Rinsing the cloth in the tub, he wrung it out and draped it over the shelf.

            “Do you think you can stand now?” He asked standing up. Sasuke wiggled his toes, noticing no more tingling sensation. Naruto unfolded a large towel and held it out in both hands in front of him, blocking his view of the wet naked form. Sasuke raised himself slowly, making sure his legs were up to the task, but it seems the circulation was back to normal and his nerve endings were no longer screaming out in agony at him. He eyed the outstretched hands, the doctor obviously expected him to step out so he could wrap the towel around him.

            _He has the wrong person..._ He grabbed the towel out of Naruto’s hands, wrapping it around himself. Naruto didn’t bat an eyelash at his harsh gesture, seemingly expecting him to do it. The blond looked him up and down, making sure he was steady on his feet and wouldn’t fall over.

            “I’ll give you a minute.” Naruto made his way out of the small room. “Don’t lock the door, just in case.” He said, before closing it behind him. Naruto picked up his bag from the entryway, putting in on the desk next to the small open suitcase. The inside had all the basic paraphernalia you would expect from a starting BDSM amateur. A pair of metal handcuffs. Naruto remembered the abrasions and few lacerations from those on Sasuke’s wrist last month. He eyed them with distaste, tossing them back into the suitcase. There were a few plugs, a blindfold, a cheap fake leather flogger, and a paddle that was used on Sasuke earlier this morning was in there. Naruto looked around the bed for the vibrator, tossing it inside along with the remote, and zipping up the suitcase. He put it by the door, letting Sasuke deal with it however way he wanted to. Few minutes later Sasuke emerged dressed in a fresh pair of blue pajamas, finding Naruto riffling through his medical bag and taking out a few supplies.

            “How do you feel?” Naruto asked him, as he assembled the antibiotics and hung up a new IV bag on the bed frame. There was a couple of bottles of Gatorade on the desk for Sasuke to replenish his electrolytes.

            “Better.” Sasuke said, making his way to the bed and taking a seat. He stretched out his left arm, giving the doctor access to his IV site.

            “Good.” Naruto wiped the port with an alcohol square and screwed in the line for the fluids. “This should be the last dose that you’ll need. I picked up three days of oral antibiotics for you, so once you’re finished with those, you should be as good as new.” He said as he worked.

Sasuke nodded and laid down on the bed still exhausted and sleep was just around the corner. Naruto sat down on the chair next to him, picking up the book he was looking through yesterday. Sasuke looked at the man in his bedroom. The neatly cropped blond hair was longer on the top, his tan skin complemented the azure eyes that were roaming the page he was currently looking at. His black t-shirt hugged his muscular chest nicely, showing off his biceps. He could see a small edge of a tattoo peeking out of one of the sleeves. Sasuke licked his lip, his mind curious about what it could be.

            “I was a little surprised to learn that Sasori, the Puppet Master, was your Dom.” Naruto said, not lifting his eyes from the page he was on. Sasuke’s eyes hardened, his jaw clenched before he turned over and faced the wall. Before he fell asleep, Naruto heard him whisper.

“He was not _my_ Dom.”

            _Not anymore he isn’t..._ Naruto thought as he looked over at the raven, going back to the book and letting Sasuke get some much-needed sleep.

 

_…To be continued…_

 

 

So, were you surprised? I was hoping it was a good surprise. Sasori seemed like he would totally be into bondage with his sadistic streak, the ropes and puppets. Yes, I know most of you were thinking Orochimaru or Gaara, but I may use them later on, so I needed a believable, but more or less disposable character. And poor Sasuke, I felt bad doing this to him. But I need to break him down before I build him back up, right?

 

Be patient for the next update, I need to work on To Your Knees before I continue this story. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated.

 


	4. Terms

A HUGE thank you to  **TeethOfBerenice**  for editing my story!

I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long! I hope this 13K words chapter makes up for it, at least a little bit. I needed to start developing the story, and splitting it up would have made some boring chapters, so you just get to read a giant one.

 

 

**Chapter 4: Terms**

Sasuke woke up to the delicious smell of food wafting through his apartment. He stretched, joints popping in satisfaction, and realized that nothing pulled at his arm. He looked down to find the IV missing, the bag of saline was gone and so were the supplies that were previously laid out on the desk. The duffle bag was there, which meant that Naruto was still somewhere in the apartment. Not wanting to stay in bed any longer, he dragged himself from under the covers; his metabolism did not like to keep him warm at night, so he always resorted to using a mountain of blankets. He followed the delicious smell down the hall to the kitchen, where he found the doctor standing by the stove. He eyed the man’s strong back, clad in a white t-shirt and well fitting jeans, unable to keep his eyes from checking the other out while he wasn’t aware of his gaze.

      “Like what you see?” Naruto asked without turning around.

      “Hn.” Sasuke walked over to the kitchen counter after he was caught, taking a seat on one of the bar stools.

      “I’m making lunch, if you’re interested.” Naruto used a spatula to flip some pieces of chicken in the skillet. The tantalizing aroma of garlic and spices made Sasuke’s mouth water. “It’s almost done, could you get a couple of plates? And there is salad in the fridge,” Naruto asked and turned off the stove.

Sasuke quietly complied, grabbing two large plates out of the covert. He opened the fridge to see a big bowl of mixed greens topped with tomatoes, and other vegetables. He saw two bottles of Gatorade on the shelf, grabbing one for himself.

      “Gatorade?” Sasuke asked, offering the other to the doctor.

      “No, they’re both for you. I’ve got a water, and you need the electrolytes,” Naruto replied, dividing the chicken between their plates. “I hope you don’t mind, I used up your vegetables.” He was glad that at least Sasuke’s fridge was stocked up with fresh produce.

      “It’s fine,” Sasuke replied, sitting down next to the doctor. Lunch looked delicious, and he was starving after having only broth the day before. Taking the first bite of his warm chicken, he felt the incredible flavor explode on his tongue. _Wow, he has some skills._ Sasuke took a few forkfuls of his salad, enjoying the extra tomatoes he picked out from the bowl.

      “Did Sasori come back?” Sasuke asked between his bites, remembering that Naruto somehow found out who the Dom was.

      “Yep.” Naruto suppressed a growl at the mention of the incompetent man. Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the clipped response.

      “Something tells me I won’t be seeing him again,” Sasuke eyed the quiet man next to him. Naruto met his eyes, the azure pools filled with satisfaction at that fact.

      “Something tells me that you’re correct,” Naruto smirked, taking another bite of the chicken. Sasuke shook his head but had a smile of contempt at the thought of being done with that idiot.

      _Damn. Now I have to look for someone else, and that asshole was hard enough to find._ Sasuke glanced over at the man next to him, considering the proposal for a few seconds. _No, no. He is bad news. Plus, how would I know if he’s better than Sasori anyways. Just because he talks and walks like a Dom, looks like a Dom... No. He is too… caring… too nice._

Naruto patiently waited while he felt Sasuke’s gaze apprise him. He figured the man was weighing his options, thinking about giving Naruto a shot. When the raven looked back at his plate and shook his head, he figured whatever was bothering him must have outweighed the benefit of having him as a Dom. Naruto sighed. It’s not like he could push himself on the man, that’s not how this worked. You can’t just dominate an unwilling participant into submission. Well, he _could_ , but he would never do that.

      “The offer still stands,” Naruto said, making sure that Sasuke understood that as their eyes met.

      _How the fuck does he know what I’m thinking about_ , Sasuke thought. _Is he a mind reader?_

      “No. Just observant,” Naruto chuckled at the raven, as his face displayed a variety of emotions.

      _Fuck_ , _did I say that out loud?_ a trace of shocked confusion crossed Sasuke’s face.

            “No, you didn’t. But I can practically see it written all over your face,” Naruto took a drink of his water, his knowing blue eyes not leaving the onyx depths.

            “Well, that’s a first,” Sasuke replied honestly. “Most people don’t think I’m capable of expressing emotions.”

            “That’s completely inaccurate. You’ve just never met anyone who knew how to read them.” Naruto turned his body toward him, their knees just a few inches apart. “Sasuke, even if you don’t decide today or tomorrow, or the next day, my offer still stands,” he said, sincerely hoping that Sasuke would think about it. Sasuke gave him a nod.

            “Thanks for lunch,” Sasuke said, looking down at his plate. He was grateful to the man, but his kind gestures were proving to be a little difficult to get used to.

            “Sure,” Naruto replied, picking up their plates and rinsing them in the sink before placing them in the dishwasher. Sasuke needed some space and he understood that. Naruto was a patient man.

            “How are you feeling?” Naruto asked, coming back to stand by the counter.

            “Actually, pretty good,” Sasuke said, appreciating the change of subject.

            “Excellent,” Naruto gave him a wide smile. “Well, I think my job here is done. I have your last three days of antibiotics on your desk. You’ve got my number if you start feeling unwell again or need _anything_.”

Naruto walked out of the kitchen, deciding not to acknowledge the brief flash of disappointment that he saw in Sasuke’s eyes. The raven needed to make a decision on his own without his presence interfering with his clear line of thought. Going to the bedroom, he picked up the rest of his things and walked back to the kitchen where Sasuke was still sitting, staring at some non-existent spot on the counter. His contemplation broke when Naruto place his apartment keys on the table.

            “I wanted to make sure you knew where these were,” Naruto said, his calm voice soothing the raven’s obvious internal turmoil. “I hope I’ll see you soon, Sasuke,” Naruto said, turning around and walking away.

Sasuke wanted to do something, tell him not to go, but he couldn’t make himself do it. The man made him feel too comfortable, too safe… _too guilty_. Because he did not deserve his kindness, he deserved punishment and pain, nothing more. Sasuke heard the front door open and softly close, feeling like the air was sucked out of the apartment right along with him. The place once again had the cold, lonely atmosphere, and the only reminder of the doctor was the lingering smell of delicious homemade lunch.

 

_One week later…_

Naruto hasn’t heard from the raven. His patience was starting to crack at the edges a bit, but he still had months in reserve if he needed it. Naruto jogged on the sidewalk, a set of ear buds in his ears blasted music, drowning out his slightly labored breaths. Taking the road to the nearby park, he admired the autumn trees that decorated the forest in candy colors. Pink, yellow, red, and orange leaves flew by in a blur as he ran his fifth mile. His usual route included this park; the topography added a level of difficulty to the run that pushed his body further. He was thinking about a recent case he had at the hospital and about how he needed to redo his ACLS certification soon. His mind wondering at nothing in particular, his feet taking him along the usual route without much thought. However, after he came up to a stoplight, he frowned, realizing that he must have taken the wrong turn somewhere.

            _Well, this is unusual._ Naruto looked at his surroundings, recognizing a few familiar buildings and sights.

He was a few blocks from Sasuke’s place. He noticed the proximity to the park a few days ago but didn’t have any intention to go see the man. The ball was in Sasuke’s court, and he needed him to make a choice. He hasn’t come looking for him at the hospital, which was hopefully a good sign, meaning he didn’t go back to Sasori. If Sasuke wasn’t ready to answer him or if he turned him down, there wasn’t much he could do to change that. Looking around, he noticed a local coffee shop across the street. It was his day off and he didn’t have any plans, so taking a break and having a cup while admiring the fading foliage seems like a wonderful idea. He jogged up to the café, taking a minute to warm down and stretch. He checked his phone to see how long he ran, walking into the small coffee shop as he looked to see if he received any replies to his email. The counter was empty, so he waited for the barista to return; after a few seconds, a man came out carrying boxes. Naruto heard him drop something and looked up to see cartons of tea on the floor and the man frozen in place.

      “Sasuke?” Naruto asked, genuinely surprised to see him.  

            “What are you doing here?” Sasuke asked quietly, equally surprised.

The expression of shock was replaced by a slight hint of desperation. Naruto narrowed his eyes, taking in the full appearance of the man. His dark hair has lost some of its shine, his eyes looked tired like he hasn’t slept in days. The pale skin looked a bit more translucent than before.

            “What’s wrong?” Naruto asked concerned. “Are you sick again?” Sasuke shook his head, bringing himself back to the present.

            “No. I’m fine,” Sasuke said, walking closer. “Just lack of sleep, that’s all. What can I get for you?” he did his best to remain professional.

Naruto looked at him for a few more seconds, not believing his words. The man was obviously hurting, but that self-destructive attitude was preventing him from getting help. Naruto sighed, realizing that leaving this in Sasuke’s hands may have been a bad idea.

            “I’ll have a small latte please,” Naruto said and continued to observe the raven. “I didn’t know you worked at a coffee shop.”

            Sasuke shrugged. “It pays the bills and keeps me occupied.” He wasn’t hurting for money, but the free time was a problem - too much of it was bad for Sasuke. “What brings you to this side of town?” Sasuke asked, while he made his coffee.

            “My place is on the other side of that park. I usually run there a few times a week,” Naruto replied, omitting the part where his feet, unintentionally, took him straight here.

Sasuke didn’t reply. Naruto could see that he was barely holding it together, the glue slowly coming undone while he stood there. He knew it then, the raven would have never reached out to him; he would self implode before he would ever ask for help.

            _Proud and stupid, a complete idiot when it comes to self-preservation_ , Naruto thought knowingly.

            “Here is your latte,” Sasuke slid the cup across the counter, avoiding his eyes. He was aware of the doctor’s uncanny ability to see through him. Moreover, he was sure that his current appearance was telling too much already.

            “Thank you,” Naruto gave him his credit card to pay for the drink.

            “Don’t worry about it,” Sasuke said, declining to take the payment. “This one is on me. Thanks for your help last week.” Naruto gave him a nod and a small smile.

            “I’ll see you around, Sasuke,” Naruto wanted to stay and talk to him more, but a few customers came in, making a line behind him. Sasuke didn’t reply but gave him a little wave. Their eyes met for a second, and Naruto saw the sliver of desperate need in them, the small plea for escape from his own self. His hand tightened around the cup, he turned around and made his way outside, his decision was made.

oOoOoOo

 

Sasuke finished his shift, wiping down the last of the tables and equipment. His coworker, Suigetsu was sweeping the floor. The cafe closed a few minutes ago, staying open late on weeknights till 9 pm.

            “Hey man, are you doing ok?” Suigetsu asked, after the raven hasn’t said anything for over an hour. Sasuke wanted to ignore him, but the man was persistent.

            “I’m fine, Suigetsu,” Sasuke replied, not in the mood to talk.

            “Is this about that boyfriend of yours?” he wandered over to the raven, leaning on his broom.

            “Sasori was not my boyfriend,” Sasuke replied, getting irritated.

            “Good, that dude was a total wuss,” Suigetsu said, picking up his sweeping again. Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

            “What are you talking about?” He was sure that Suigetsu ran into Sasori in passing since they were neighbors, but he wasn’t sure what gave him that impression.

            “Well, the other night, like a week ago, I saw him running out of our building.” Suigetsu picked up a few chairs. “He looked wild, kept looking over his shoulder, muttering something.” He stopped, the look on his face suggested that he was trying to recall what it was. “Something about a kumama?... No, that wasn’t right,” he tapped his chin. “Hmm… Kur-ma? Yeah, that’s what it was, kurama.” Sasuke froze. He has definitely heard that name somewhere, but he couldn’t place it.

            “Sasuke, what’s a kurama?” Suigetsu asked after the raven didn’t respond.

            “I don’t know.” _But I’m going to find out_. Sasuke finished his cleaning as quickly as possible.

Before they left, Suigetsu asked if Sasuke wanted to go out with him and his friends, the raven never accepted his offers but he wasn’t going to stop trying. Closing down the shop, the two went their separate ways, Sasuke walked across the street and down a few blocks to his apartment. Getting inside, he made a beeline for his bedroom.

            _Kurama, Kurama. Where have I heard that before?_

Sasuke walked around the room, hoping something would trigger the memory. He sat at his desk, grabbed his laptop and typed the name in the search bar. The first twenty pages were filled with references to some kind of anime, few had some Japanese folklore links. Sasuke sat back, trying to sieve through his memory banks. His eyes looked at the screen, but nothing stood out as something he would be interested in. His gaze shifted to the photography book that laid on the desk where Naruto left it. Sasuke’s eyes widened. He grabbed the book, flipping to the back to find the names of the models and photographers listed. His eyes ran down the list.

            “There it is! **Kurama** ,” Sasuke flipped through the pages, locating the correct one.

As soon as Sasuke opened the page, he recognized _him_. Sasuke has looked at this photograph many times over the years but only through an eye of a photographer. The subjects in the image were just props to him, the staging of shadows and light. The man was standing with his back to the camera, the shadow hiding half of his naked back and most of his profile. He wore dark jeans and boots; it was impossible to tell the color in a black and white picture. His notable physique was on full display as the curves of his back muscle were emphasized by the shadows. Almost as impressive as his built was the intricate tattoo on his back. It was a large pair of wings, some of the feathers ran along his shoulder and part way down his arm. Sasuke’s memories flashed back to the glimpse of a tattoo he saw on the blond earlier. He continued to study the image with new eyes, being able to appreciate it from a new perspective. Kurama’s left arm was hidden in the shadows, but the right one was down and buried in a head of hair. A man knelt next to him, his attention solely on what appeared to be his _Master,_ both hands gripping a dark boot like a lifeline. His face was difficult to see clearly in the shifted camera focus, but anyone could tell there was nothing but complete devotion in those eyes. Sasuke stared at the kneeling man, most of his body hidden in deep shadows, but it was still possible to tell that he was beautiful. His outlined eyes and piercing gaze were mesmerizing. Sasuke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

            “Holy shit,” he murmured, his face flushed. The intimate scene was so much more intense when you knew one of the participants. He still wasn’t one hundred percent sure it was Naruto because of the dark shadow over his face, but he was pretty darn certain.

Sasuke looked at the caption at the bottom of the page: **Kurama and His submissive**. **Owner of _The Precipice._** Sasuke’s eyes widened.

            “What?!” he exclaimed in surprise. _The Precipice_ was one of the most exclusive BDSM establishments in this region of the country; even he has heard the rumors about it.

            “No fucking way!” Sasuke’s shock was replaced by disbelief.

He pulled up the web page again, typing in the name of the club in the search bar. A Wikipedia page showed the date of origin, the rumored celebrity members, and other bits of detail that were hard for him to wrap his mind around. He looked at the date of establishment; he wasn’t sure how old Naruto was, but he must have been just around his age when it opened.

Sasuke sat back in his chair, shell-shocked by the revelation. His mind brought back the comment Naruto made last week about having a ‘reputation’ in the community. Curiosity replaced the surprise; he pulled up a new search page, typing in ‘Kurama and The Precipice’. The results were much different this time. There were many sites that mentioned the club itself, and a few talked about its elusive owner; it appeared that Naruto preferred to keep his privacy and didn’t do any outright promotions of the club. There were some rumored blogs about subbing for him, but no concrete accounts were available. It seemed like about three years ago, almost all news of the Dom disappeared. Some rumored that he left the scene, others came up with fantastic stories of getting himself a pet prince in Saudi Arabia and leaving the country altogether. Sasuke bit his thumb in contemplation.

            _If they only knew, he was just a few hours away playing a small-town doctor._ In reality, Naruto was practically a celebrity in the BDSM community; granted, his reign was well before Sasuke got into it, so it wasn’t surprising that the raven didn’t know about him.

            “But this doesn’t change anything,” Sasuke rocked his chair back and forth idly as he stared at the picture in the book. “He is still too much of a risk.” Sasuke looked up the ceiling, thinking about the other man.

After several minutes of contemplation, he heard a knock on the front door. It was just past 10 pm; thinking that maybe Suigetsu was back, he padded over to the front door, not bothering with the peephole. As soon as he opened, he quickly registered the head of blond hair and blue eyes looking back at him. Naruto gave him a once over, the raven looked exhausted.

            “Sasuke, we need to talk.” His statement was on the edge of a command but not quite.

Sasuke knew he wasn’t asking so he stepped aside and let him in, walking back to the bedroom. He used that space for everything: studying, sleeping, extracurricular activities, it was the natural place for him to be. Sitting down in the chair, he closed the laptop just as Naruto walked in behind him. Naruto sat on the bed, putting his elbows on his knees and linking his hands between them.

            “Sasuke, you haven’t been sleeping well.” It wasn’t a question, so Sasuke didn’t reply. The blue eyes were searching his dark gaze for hints of what’s causing his distress. “Is it because Sasori is gone?” Naruto felt responsible for starting this, even if he wasn’t sorry for chasing the other man away.

            “How do you expect me to answer you, when you haven’t been honest with me?” Sasuke replied, the cold tone and the accusing look in his eyes told Naruto that he was disappointed in him for some reason. Naruto glanced at the desk where the book still laid open to his picture. Naruto closed his eyes.

            “So you found out. I wasn’t hiding it, Sasuke. It’s just not something I go around advertising,” Naruto replied. “I told you that I had a reputation in the community, I just didn’t tell you the extent of it.” The blond finally looked at him, his eyes steady. “Does it change anything?” he asked, implying the offer.

            Sasuke took a second to think about it. “No, it doesn’t.”

            Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Good.” He didn’t need his pseudo-celebrity status interfering with this. He had enough people chasing after him in the past, he didn’t need another groupie to add to the bunch. “Since now you know, do you have any questions? I can’t promise I’ll answer all of them, but I can do my best.” Sasuke contemplated this, the curiosity getting the better of him.

            “Do you own _The Precipice_?” Sasuke asked, wondering how that worked with being a physician.

            “No, I do not,” Naruto replied not breaking their gaze. “I had a partner,” Naruto nodded toward the picture. “He took over.” Sasuke looked down at the book, his eyebrows raised.

            “The sub?” That was unexpected, he should know by now that the man was full of surprises.

            “Yes,” he replied. “But I still assist in certain aspects of running the place.”

            “Why did you give up the ownership?” Sasuke asked, the man was so much more than met the eye.

            “I had to choose, and being a physician was and is my calling. Doing both would have been too much of a risk,” he replied honestly.

Sasuke could understand that. He has been on the receiving end of funny looks because of his lifestyle choices, even from Naruto when they first met and he had been yet to realize that it was consensual.

            “How old were you when that picture was taken?” Sasuke asked, glancing over the black-and-white image.

            “Twenty-eight.”

            “How old are you now?” Sasuke asked, curious of how long it’s been. The book wasn’t that old, but the photographs in it were from variety of decades.

            “Thirty-three.”

Sasuke nodded. The age span between them was wide, but not obscene. Naruto looked younger than he was, and Sasuke was… Sasuke. For the most part, he looked the same over the last ten years, just his height and muscle mass increased.

            “My turn,” Sasuke heard Naruto say, making him swallow to moisten his now suddenly dry throat.

            “What did you need out of your relationship with Sasori?” he wasn’t going to waste any more time. They needed to get to the point. Sasuke looked at him for a few seconds, a bit taken aback by the directness of his question.

            “I needed pain,” Sasuke replied.

            “And what did he need?” he asked, and the raven paused, not sure how to answer this.

            “He needed control and sex,” he finally replied, his cheeks showing a hint of a blush. Naruto nodded, understanding the exchange.

            “Why do you need pain?” Naruto asked, but Sasuke’s panicked look made him change his question. “Let me rephrase that. What happens if you don’t have the pain?” Naruto understood that his response to painful stimuli was rooted somewhere in his mind, and tonight was not the night they would discuss that. _Not tonight, not tomorrow, but maybe someday._ Sasuke thought about his question, deeming it safe enough.

            “I can’t sleep. And when I do sleep, I have nightmares,” Sasuke said finally, picking up his feet and putting them on the chair. Naruto nodded, even if it was obvious by how worn out the raven looked.

            “Have you tried something else?”

            “You mean like a shrink?” Sasuke sighed and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, I have. I’ve done the therapy, the meds, the sleep aids. But nothing has worked better than a good ol’ fashion ass whooping,” he said with a smirk. Naruto thought about his response.

            _Unless there are organic causes for this_ , _I’m guessing he hasn’t found the underlying source of his issues. Or he has decided to bury it so deep that even he won’t be able to uncover it_ , Naruto thought about his predicament.

He wanted to help Sasuke, but he did not enjoy just causing pain without pleasure. He was not about to request the same exchange that Sasori had of him, that’s not how he functioned. There didn’t have to be love between them, but at least a mutual desire was necessary.

            “Alright,” Naruto said, making the decision. “I can give you what you need,” Naruto said carefully, keeping his gaze leveled. “But, in exchange I’ll need something from you...”

            “I haven’t agreed to let you be my Dom,” Sasuke said stubbornly, a piece of limp hair drooped in front of his eyes, as if his body was mocking him while surrendering to the exhaustion.

            “Tsk.” Naruto shook his head. “I don’t think you have too many options.”

Sasuke stayed silent, not being able to come up with a witty reply and too tired to lie. He looked at the doctor, judging the book by its cover has been deceiving. Naruto looked like an all-American frat boy, his tan skin was perfect and his sandy-blond hair was neatly cut, the combination with his azure eyes made his appearance striking.

            “Fine. What do you want?” Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. _If I have to give up my ass for anyone, I guess at least he is nice to look at,_ Sasuke thought, preparing to hear the usual request.

            “In exchange for causing you pain,” Naruto started, “I will be your Dominant, which entails you following my commands and allowing me to show you what a real D/s relationship is like.”

            “Let me guess, commands like ‘suck my cock’ or ‘ride me till I cum’?” Sasuke asked, the mocking smirk decorating his face.

            “Oh, no worries, there will be none of that.” Naruto sat back, leaning on both of his outstretched arms, the smirk and glint in his eyes clashing against the confused dark eyes. “I’m not saying that there will be no sexual contact, a significant part of a D/s relationship involves that, but I will not be fucking you, and you will not be touching my dick.” Naruto finished, practically watching the wheels turn in Sasuke’s mind.

            “So… no sex?” Sasuke asked again, feeling the need to clarify.

            “No sex,” Naruto smiled. “Not unless you beg me for it… Or say the magic word, but I won’t be holding my breath for either with you.” Naruto shrugged his shoulders, fully aware of the less than zero chance of that happening. “You are not a sex toy.” He wanted to make sure that Sasuke started to learn that and never let himself be used like he was with Sasori.

            “So, what’s in it for you?” Sasuke asked, still confused about the proposal. He expected to at least blow him on occasion, but no need to reciprocate at all? That just seemed strange.

            “Sasuke, there are no hidden motives, I’m laying everything out on the table now. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s your choice. Look, I’ve been where you are, we may not share that same story of how we got here, but I know how it is when you’re stuck between bad options. I’m willing to help you out, at least until we come up with a more permanent solution for your _issues_.”

            Sasuke narrowed his eyes _. I knew there was a catch, he wants to dig up my past._ He was about to tell him to take a hike, but Naruto interrupted.

            “I will not force you to tell me about your history. Sometimes I may ask, but it is your choice if you want to tell me anything. I promise not to push,” he clarified, raising his hands in a non-threatening gesture of surrender.

Sasuke sat silently, gauging his options. He exhausted his attempts of finding a new Dom, he even considered calling Sasori, but his pride wouldn’t let him. Plus, he was still pissed at the man for leaving him tied up. He thought about trying craigslist, but he didn’t want to die, so that didn’t go anywhere. However, here he was, sitting across an experienced Dom who was willingly offering his services for practically no strings attached.

            “Fine,” Sasuke finally said. “But this is temporary.”

            “Sure,” the blond replied, the smile never leaving his face. “Well, it’s getting late, and you need to get some sleep.” Naruto looked at his watch, then at the exhausted and miserable expression on Sasuke’s face at the thought of going to bed.

            “On your feet, Sasuke.” Naruto’s firm voice gave a command, the easygoing smile evaporated, leaving only a playful smirk.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but followed the command regardless, slowly rising to his feet. He wasn’t sure what the blond had planned but waited for the next set of orders regardless.

            “What time do you work tomorrow?”

            “Noon,” Sasuke replied, not sure why he cared.

            “Good. We’ll establish the rest of the rules later. Just the basics tonight to get you through this rough patch,” Naruto said while walking around the man. “Do you have a safe word?”

            “Red,” Sasuke replied after a few seconds.

            “Good. Now, if you say ‘red’, I will immediately stop without hesitation. Understood?” Naruto stood in front of him, their several inch height difference even more apparent in close proximity. Sasuke nodded, to which Naruto raised an eyebrow.

            “I understand,” Sasuke clarified with an annoyed sigh. _He is going to be a pain in the ass, but at least not literally,_ Sasuke thought, glad for the latter part.

            “You’ll learn your manners eventually, of that I’m certain.” Naruto brushed off the attitude and walked over to the desk, clearing the top off. “Legs shoulder width apart, grasp your forearms behind your back.” He watched the raven move slowly over to the furniture. “Now, lean your chest over the desk without touching it. If your upper body touches the surface, we stop. Understood?”

            “Yes,” Sasuke replied. His position seemed sexual, except for the fact that they both had their clothes on, and the doctor said they won’t be doing any fucking. Sasuke heard the belt buckle clink before the long swoosh indicating that the accessory was freed from Naruto’s jeans. _Maybe he lied_.

            “Any new injuries I should know about before we start?” Naruto asked, based on previous marks on Sasuke’s body, the man was familiar with a belt.

            “No,” Sasuke replied, gripping his forearms tighter. He knew the pain from a belt well, memories of the stinging burn and deep welts in his skin coming back to him.

            “Good,” Naruto said, pushing the chair out of the way to give him more room. “This is not your typical belt, Sasuke, so don’t think you know what’s coming. Make sure you don’t forget not to touch that table, or we’re done.” He saw a nod from the raven, but cleared his throat as a quick reminder for a verbal reply.

            “Understood,” Sasuke said, while focusing his efforts on maintaining his current position.

Naruto sidestepped, folding his belt in half to hold both ends in one hand. The camel-colored leather had a unique feel, and the extreme softness of the surface had a deceiving quality. When used correctly, the almost silky material contrasted against the firm leather backing that left a pleasant stinging sensation that lingered for hours.

            “What’s your safe word?” Naruto asked again, this was a standard protocol with him, and he wanted to make sure to start teaching him correctly from the start. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

            “Red,” the raven replied, wanting to get this started already and feeling like a few places on his body might start to ache soon if he stood in this position for too long.

            “Seventeen,” Naruto said. “That’s how many stitches I’ve had to put in you over the last six months. We stop after seventeen strikes, or if you touch that desk. Count.” The last part was definitely a command.

            _I hate counting._ Sasuke gritted his teeth. “Understood.”

Naruto looked at the bent over man, he could see the straight posture and tight grip on his arms were already going to leave him exhausted after this. Coupled with some bursts of pain should give Sasuke at least a few nights of good sleep, no matter how much his mind repelled the need for rest. He saw a slight tremor run through the raven, choosing that precise time to land his first hit.

            “One,” Sasuke said clearly as he felt the leather connect with his ass. The sensation felt much different from his previous experiences with a belt. The contact point stung slightly, but he wouldn’t consider it anything more than just minor discomfort. _Damn it, he is going to go easy on me… what the…?_

Sasuke’s train of thought skidded to a stop when his skin blossomed in a warm, stinging sensation. It wasn’t exactly painful, but the tingle feeling of pinpricks running across his skin was something new. The feeling didn’t dissipate as more seconds passed, the warmth becoming increasingly noticeable, forcing his focus on the area.

Naruto stepped back, watching his reaction. He smirked a little when he saw pale hands grip harder and lips tighten. Sasuke’s eyes were closed tightly now, making the skin around them crease. Naruto knew that the force behind his blow was light compared to what the raven was used to, at least judging by the welts and cuts in his skin before. However, with this BDSM accessory, he would only need a small fraction of his strength. The belt was one of the special items he found years ago, custom ordered from uniquely man-made leather, incredibly soft to touch and misleading at first glance. Combined with the stiff underlay, it had a distinct latent effect that Sasuke was currently experiencing. The belt stimulated multiple levels of nerve endings, including the superficial ones that were usually bypassed in rough play, but imperative in light stimulations such as feathering. Naruto watched the man’s body tremble for a few seconds, his torso coming dangerously close to the table surface.

            “Done already, Sasuke?” Naruto asked, keeping most of the amusement from his voice. Sasuke stiffened, as if jerked out of a daze.

            “No,” he replied. His voice was sure and determined.

            “Let’s continue then.” He gave Sasuke little time before landing the second hit. “Don’t forget to count.” He needed to keep Sasuke grounded, and counting was the best way of doing that right now.

            “T-two,” the raven said, a small hitch in his voice indicated that he wasn’t one hundred percent in control of his body’s response. _Fuck, what the hell is that?_

Naruto smiled, happy to hear that small chip in the armor. He didn’t want to break the man, but he definitely needed to get through some of those barriers, otherwise this whole exercise would be for nothing. He didn’t enjoy only hurting someone, but he did want to leave a mark, just not a physical one. Sasuke was guarded in all of the wrong places. His private life was on full display unlike most people’s, but everything else was under the lock and key. Naruto hoped that providing what Sasuke needs while staying in his comfort zone would get him closer to finding a way in.

Not giving the raven much of a break Naruto raised his arm again, this time landing a hit on a lower part of his thighs, avoiding the sensitive knee area. He heard the shaky ‘three’ from the raven and saw another tremor run through him, his breathing slightly more rapid that it has been a few minutes ago, his eyes squeezed tightly. Naruto continued, expertly placing the next one just below Sasuke’s belt that was holding up his black cotton pants. The blond wondered for a second if he should have had him take those off. However, he knew temptation when he saw it, no reason to torture himself in the process; especially not when he had little hope that Sasuke will ever actually _want_ to respond to him in that way.

            _After Sasori and whoever came before him, it’s likely that he attributes sex to being used or as a form of payment. I have no desire to contribute to either of those opinions._ He waited a few seconds for Sasuke to catch up.

Naruto heard the mumbled ‘four’, watching him bite his lip in determination. Naruto pulled back again quickly, picking a new spot, and landing a hit with just slightly more power behind it.

            “Ngh… Five,” Sasuke managed to say, his body moving against the side of table on it’s own and shaking as he tried to maintain his posture.

Sasuke was barely able to make a complete sentence in his mind by now; the warm, tingling sensation not allowing his brain to function fully. He knew it wasn’t the pain, this was definitely not his body’s usual response to being belted and the effect was completely unlike anything he has experienced before. Usually, pain made him focus, allowing him to muffle the guilty thoughts that creeped up from the recesses of his mind. However, this time he wasn’t sure what he was feeling. He was unable to focus on the past to use his old tricks in burying the memories, but he also couldn’t hear the shameful self-accusations of his mind. His entire body and mind were buzzing like a swarm of bees, repelling any thoughts that dared to appear as the heat sensation overcame anything else.

Naruto switched arms, lifting his left this time to land the next hit, the sound radiating through the room and bouncing off the walls around them.

            “Ah,” Sasuke let out a small gasp, not expecting the belt to hit his left cheek. All of his previous partners were right handed, so the opposite side remained more-or-less free of abuse and neglected. “Six,” he managed to let out. Naruto cursed silently, realizing the same fact.

He watched Sasuke’s flushed face, his quick breaths made rings of condensation on the cool table beneath him with every gasp and exhale. His hands were clenched so tightly Naruto thought about making a rule that forbade self-harm. Luckily, Sasuke kept his nails short, otherwise there would have been blood spilling all over his white t-shirt.

After another five strikes, Naruto switched back to his right hand. By now, Sasuke’s back was damp, soaked with sweat as his chest heaved with each breath. His stomach muscles clenched from exertion and his lower back ached from being bent over. The gasps escaped freely now after every hit, and an occasional moan was heard, following a particularly well-placed blow. Sasuke tried to do his best to hold as much of his voice in as he could.

            “Don’t lock your knees, Sasuke,” Naruto said, dissipating some of the fog that clouded Sasuke’s mind. _If he gets too lost in it, he won’t make it._ His head was barely a centimeter from the desk, and Naruto wanted him to succeed. _There’s something to be said about being able to make it through this without giving up._

Sasuke’s eyes shot open, noticing the proximity of the surface to his face. He adjusted his stance and posture, his muscles aching with desire to give up. He would have loved to just lay on the desk and allow the man to continue. However, he knew it would be over if he gave up; and fuck it all, but he wanted more… he didn’t want to stop.

            “I’ll be counting the rest of them,” Naruto said in a clear voice when Sasuke was ready for more. Sasuke needed to know that it wasn’t just a nameless person wielding the belt.

            “Eleven,” Naruto said right before landing the next hit. Sasuke gasped, biting his lip almost hard enough to draw blood. His thighs dug into the desk before him in support.

            “Twelve,” Naruto waited a few seconds this time, throwing the raven off his state of preparedness.

            “Fuck…” Sasuke moaned, unable to stop himself. His entire body was shaking with swirling mixture of pleasure, pain, heat, and need.

            “Thirteen,” Naruto said, his voice lower this time as he watched the quivering form in front of him that let out a lewd groan almost before he even hit him. Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

            “Fourteen,” Naruto gripped the belt tighter, allowing his muscles to strain against the leather to distract him from the scene, his imagination was starting to stray to the off-limit territories.

            “Fifteen,” Sasuke heard Naruto say, the low, slightly rough voice made his insides clench even before the leather made contact with his backside.

            “Sixteen,” Naruto counted, letting his arm swing to find the last virgin spot on his lower thighs.

            “Ah! Mmmm….” Sasuke pressed his lips together to keep his voice down as much as he could.

            “Seventeen,” Naruto said with relief, letting the leather caress the abused glutes one last time.

Sasuke let out another moan, the last of his strength leaving him as he dropped against the table. The motion made him acutely aware of a semi-hard _issue_ that he didn’t realize he had until he leaned on the hard top. His breaths heaved, the sweat-soaked skin stuck to the surface. His legs shook, barely able to support him while his hands ached from gripping the life out of his forearms, making his shoulders sore from the strain. His fingers felt stiff as he let go and tried to support himself on the desk. But before he could attempt to lift himself, a strong pair of arms pulled him back and picked him up, careful to avoid his sensitive backside.

Naruto laid Sasuke gently down on the bed, mainly keeping him on his side. He avoided any acknowledgement of the raven’s half-erect state. Sasuke didn’t struggle or say anything, his muscles lax and content as the soreness started to dissipate. His body was humming, a pleasant sensation that coursed through him made the fringes of his mind dull and quiet.

            _At least this answers the question of whether or not he actually enjoys pain,_ Naruto thought, watching the conscious awareness flicker in and out of the onyx eyes. The slightly unfocused gaze, exacerbated by lack of sleep and tonight’s exercise was a tell-tale sign of Sasuke hitting his limit.

            “I would fill a bath for you, but I think you need sleep more. This does mean your back will be sore tomorrow. Take some Tylenol I left here the other day,” Naruto said quietly, appreciating the peaceful look on raven’s face that didn’t have the usual hard edge. The dark eyes were slightly glazed over, and his breathing evened out slowly.

Naruto covered him with a blanket, making sure he stayed warm as his body cooled. This is not how he usually left his subs, but he did what he could for now. Sasuke has been restless for days, and now he just needed to sleep. He sat back in the chair next to the bed, seeing the dark eyes stay closed after the last few lazy blinks. Naruto watched him for a little while, then picked up a scrap piece of paper and wrote a note.

            ‘Take 2 pills and text me when you wake up’ He scribbled, leaning the note against the bottle of Tylenol on the nightstand.

After making sure Sasuke had some water nearby, he grabbed his things and walked out, turning one of the locks before shutting the front door behind him. He leaned his back against the cool wood, looking out the stairwell window at the mostly full moon.

            _What did I get myself into?_ Naruto smiled to himself, tonight’s experience reopening a few previously dormant corners of his mind. Pushing away, he took the stairs down to the first floor; his body feeling lighter than it has been in years.

 

A few hours later, Sasuke opened his eyes to an empty room. He wasn’t sure when Naruto left, likely after he practically passed out. He sat up, taking notice of the soreness in his lower back and the ache in his quads. Surprisingly, his ass wasn’t hurting, but the tingling persisted, bringing his mind back to the exquisite sensation he felt hours ago. He ran his hand through his matted hair, his black locks hanging limply after being drenched in sweat. Rolling his shoulders to loosen up the muscles, he glanced at the note next to his bed.

            “Well, I guess he lived up to his reputation.” _And then_ _some…_

He stared at the scratchy handwriting. Popping off the bottle top, he took two pills and downed them with the water. He got up and undressed completely. Looking in the mirror, he expected some kind of damage to his skin, but all he could see was areas of slightly pink hew that started at his tailbone and went down to just above his knees, no spot darker than the other, and no bruise in sight. He ran his hand over the area, triggering a wave of goosebumps on the sensitive and still warm skin. He took a quick shower, letting the warm water relax his aching shoulders and back. Ten minutes later, he was back in bed, not bothering with pajamas, the slide of cool sheets felt divine on his skin as he fell back to the most restful sleep he had in a long time.

oOoOoOo

 

The following morning, Naruto sat in his kitchen, catching up on the news when his phone vibrated. It was a text from Sasuke. The blond was starting to wonder if he should call and wake him up when the clock hit eleven, not wanting him to be late for work.

            ‘Did you have a seizure while writing that note?’ He read the words twice, laughing out loud wholeheartedly.

            ‘I’ll have you know I was at the top of my writing class. It takes practice to get that good.’ He replied.

            ‘Hn.’ Naruto chuckled, imagining Sasuke’s less than amused face clear as day.

            ‘How late are you working tonight? We need to go over some paperwork.’ Naruto texted back, waiting almost a minute before the next txt came.

            ‘Are you talking about a contract?’

            ‘Yes.’ Naruto wondered how Sasuke would take that, but they needed to go over the boundaries of this relationship in detail. A few more minutes passed before finally his phone vibrated. He half expected to be told to go to hell.

            ‘Fine. I’m done at 7,’ came a reply, making Naruto smile.

            _He is finally figuring out what’s good for him. I’d say that’s progress,_ Naruto smirked at the screen.

            ‘I’ll pick you up from work, we can go to my place. If you don’t mind, I would rather not have to lag my tools around in the future.’

            _Tools?_ Sasuke thought while he pulled on his work pants. The coarse friction of fabric against his backside made the still sensitive skin tingle at the light stimulation.

            ‘Props/paraphernalia/whatever you want to call it. Can’t have you getting used to the belt so soon,’ Naruto replied.

            _Fucking mind reader, maybe he has this place bugged. Wait, I didn’t say that out loud._

            ‘I’m not a mind reader ; )’ Naruto texted, making Sasuke want to throw the phone out the window.

            “Jesus, that’s scary.” Sasuke mumbled, glaring at the device. Another text came through. “I swear if he responds to that, I’m getting an exorcist.”

            ‘At least not today.’ Naruto followed up to the previous txt.

            ‘You better not have a torture dungeon,’ Sasuke wrote back.

            ‘Hahaha. How did you sleep?’ Naruto asked. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the non-answer, then frowned and bit his lip, tempted to lie.

            ‘You know damn well how I slept. I passed out before you left,’ Sasuke typed back, his cheeks heating up just a bit at the admission.

            ‘Glad I was of some assistance.’ He could practically hear the chuckle from the blond.

            ‘See you at 7,’ Sasuke texted back, refusing to stroke the doctor’s ego any more than he has.

            ‘See you tonight. Have a good day at work.’ Sasuke stared at the text message, the last line in particular pulling at something deep inside. He ignored the feeling and resumed getting dressed.

           

oOoOoOo

Seven pm rolled around quicker than Sasuke anticipated. His body full of renewed energy provided him with ample amounts of stamina to finish cleaning up the place in record time. And the few times anything came in contact with his ass, it made the hairs on his arms rise, pulling his mind back to the bedroom. He almost caught himself starting to hum at one point, which would have probably given Suigetsu a heart attack. The white-haired man was already all over him about his change of attitude.

            “Did you get laid?” Suigetsu asked, eyeing the unusually perky Uchiha. The raven has been brooding around the café for days, practically wearing a sign that said: _put me out of my misery_ ; until today that is.

Sasuke didn’t even stop to look at him. It was after the fourth dirty comment that Sasuke rolled his eyes and finally told him to fuck off and mind his own business.

            “Ah, there you are. I was starting to get worried,” Suigetsu laughed, chucking a cleaning towel at the other man.

            “We’re done. Let's get out of here,” Sasuke said, catching the rag and putting it away.

            “Whatever you’re on, I want some.” Suigetsu narrowed his eyes, studying the ‘new and improved’ Sasuke. Although, he was starting to miss the grumpy – go fuck yourself – attitude most normally received from the raven.

Sasuke grabbed his sweatshirt, turned off the lights, and waited for Suigetsu to get his things. He let them out and locked the door behind them.

            “Well now, I figured out what you’re _on_ ,” Suigetsu smirked, turning back to look over his shoulder at Sasuke. “Nice,” he grinned, winked and gave him a thumbs up.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and peaked around him. Naruto was leaning against his black Jeep, texting on his phone. He raised his head after hearing them walk out, smiling brightly at them. The blond was wearing a pair of dark jeans and lightweight black jacket. His light grey V-neck contrasted against the dark fabric and tan skin.

            “Hey there! Suigetsu, right?” Naruto asked, walking over and shaking his hand. “How’ve you been?”

            “Yo, Naruto! What’s up? Are you here to pick up the princess?” Suigetsu pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

            “I sure am,” Naruto smiled widely. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, pushing his coworker out of the way and walking over to the car. He got into the passenger seat while trying to ignore both of them.

            “Well you kids have fun. I would say use protection and what not, but I think you got it all covered.” Suigetsu laughed when Sasuke flipped him off.

            “No worries, Sasuke will be home in a couple of hours,” Naruto replied, smirking. “By the way, Sasuke,” Naruto turned to face the raven who has yet to close his door, “are you working tomorrow night?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what the blond was plotting.

            “Ye…” he didn’t get to finish before Suigetsu piped in.

            “Nope, he is working in the morning,” the white-haired man replied.

            “That’s not the sche…” Sasuke tried again.

            “It is now,” Suigetsu winked at the raven who decided to stay quiet this time.

            “Excellent,” Naruto smiled brightly. “Alright, we got to get going. It was good to see you, Suigetsu.”

            “Same. Hopefully we’ll see you around more. Also, thanks for fixing Sasuke last week, I’m guessing he never told you that.”

            “Actually, he did thank me,” Naruto replied, glancing over at the raven who tried his best to pretend he wasn’t listening.

            “Wow, I’ll be damned. You might just make a real human out of him yet,” he said, slightly shocked that Sasuke actually broke down and thanked someone for doing something nice.

            “I’ll do what I can,” Naruto waved over his shoulder, walking over to the driver’s side door and getting in.

The car was still warm, keeping the chilly autumn air at bay. Sasuke put on the black hoodie over his work clothes, his dark hair spiked with static when he pulled his head through. He was glad he worked in a coffee house and not some fast food restaurant, he wouldn’t be able to stomach smelling like hamburgers every day. At least with this place, he was drenched in the scent of coffee beans and pastries.

            “You smell like a pumpkin pie,” Naruto said as he pulled away.

            “Sorry. It’s that fucking pumpkin-spice everything that everyone is obsessed with in the fall.” Sasuke smelled his sweatshirt, barely noticing the scent of pumpkin bread that was baked at the end of the day. He was used to it, so it didn’t bother him anymore.

            “I kind of like it. It’s like I have a scented candle in my car,” Naruto laughed.

            “Shut it, will you.” Sasuke looked away, trying to kill the heat that threatened to engulf his face.

            “How was work?” Naruto asked, taking a left at the light.

            “About what you’d expect for a Friday night,” Sasuke replied. “How far away do you live?”

            “Ten minutes. If you cut through the park, it would take only five minutes, but the drive takes longer because of the lights. Too bad it rained today, it would have been a nice walk.”

            “Hn.” Sasuke looked out the window, watching the colorful trees pass by, the brilliant shades illuminated by the setting sun. “Is that where you run?” he asked, remembering that Naruto showed up at the café dressed in running clothes yesterday.

            “Yes. It’s nice, has some hilly spots so I don’t get bored,” the blond almost asked if he would like to join him sometimes, but this relationship was in a delicate balance, and the last thing he wanted was for Sasuke to feel smothered.

Few minutes later Naruto turned onto his street, following the road to a cul-de-sac in the back of the neighborhood that had some of the larger lots bordering against the dense forest of hardwood trees behind them. Pulling into the driveway of a charcoal-grey house outlined with white trim, black gutters and downspouts, he pushed the button to open one of the three garage doors. Sasuke eyed the clean space that contained a workbench and a few power tools; the walls were lined with pegboard where multitudes of small tools were on display in an orderly fashion.

            “You are surprisingly neat,” Sasuke said, eyeing the impressive organization.

            “I have to be, otherwise I’d never find anything,” Naruto replied, pulling the car in and killing the engine.

Sasuke saw the sleek matte black motorcycle with a glossy _Ducati_ print on the tank occupying one of the spots, its dark carbon wheels looked slightly intimidating.

            “Do you ride?” he asked, genuinely curious.

            “I did a few years back, but this one isn’t mine. A friend stores it here sometimes,” Naruto said, getting out of the car and closing the garage door.

Naruto opened the door to the house and turned on a few lights as he went. Sasuke followed him, looking around the open floor layout of the kitchen, pendant lights above the oversized kitchen island casted a warm glow on the walnut-colored floors and off-white cabinets. Overall, the place had a modern feel but with cozy character of traditional elements. The kitchen opened up to a spacious living room, complete with caramel-colored leather couches and a reading chair.

Naruto hung his jacket on a nearby wall hook, taking off his shoes and placing them in the coat closet. Sasuke followed suit, not wanting to be rude, and then walked around looking at the pictures scattered about the room. The blond was in a few of them, along with a pink haired woman and a brown haired man. Sasuke didn’t recognize either of them, but another picture contained a large group that included all three and some people wearing white coats, so he guessed they were his classmates.

            “The weather has been so mild, I haven’t bothered to turn the heat on.” Naruto turned on the gas fireplace with a remote. “Would you like a tour?”

Sasuke shrugged, not caring one way or another. To him, this seemed to be more of a business arrangement.

            _I should probably see the **office** , I guess, _Sasuke smirked to himself.

Naruto noticed the slight raise of the corner of his lips but decided not to comment. He felt like he was watching a cat explore a new place. The disinterested attitude, but curious eyes studied his home, exploring each detail while he was just casually walking by.

            “This is the office,” Naruto said, turning on a light in an adjacent room. Sasuke stopped short.

            “The fuck…” _How does he keep doing that?_ He shook his head, walking into the room where a desk with a computer monitor stood. The walls were lined with books, many of them relating to medicine. There was a coffee table surrounded by a small leather sofa that matched the living room furniture, and another reading chair. The whole space felt warm and inviting. Sasuke read over some of the titles on the bookshelves, his interest not holding for more than a few seconds. Naruto moved on as soon as Sasuke wandered out of the room, making his way down the hall without much prompting. Turning off the light, he followed the raven who took a turn into an open doorway.

            “The master bedroom,” Naruto said, turning on the lights.

Sasuke looked at the spacious room, large windows had heavy blinds on them that were raised most of the way to allow a few slivers of the setting sun. A king size bed stood next to one of the walls, it’s dark-grey linen frame was studded along the edges, giving it a sharp modern look. Stark white comforter looked plush and inviting, contrasting against the navy sheets underneath. Sasuke eyed the set up.

            “I figured you’d have something more… extreme,” Sasuke said, expecting to see at least some hints of the BDSM things.

            “What, you thought I’d have a sex swing or a cross in my bedroom?” Naruto smirked. “Don’t worry, we won’t be spending time here.” The blond walked out of the bedroom, letting Sasuke follow at his own pace.

Walking down a corridor, Naruto opened the door to the basement and made his way down the long staircase. Sasuke followed him, stepping on the plush carpeting at the bottom of the steps that opened up into a medium size family room. He noticed the unusually tall ceilings, wondering if he would even be able to jump high enough to touch them. He was 6’1, but the room had to be about nine or ten feet tall. Naruto walked to a closed door that appeared to include almost half the basement if he compared it to the layout upstairs. There was a small keypad with four numbers.

            “Is this the sex dungeon?” Sasuke asked, raising his eyebrow when Naruto unlocked the door, letting it swing open quietly and turning on the light. “Or… a storage dungeon?” the raven’s confused gaze ran over the boxes stacked around the room.

The space was large, the tall ceilings and rich dark blue walls made the room feel intimate and vast at the same time. Heavy crown molding, accented by the cove lighting around the perimeter of the room, balanced out the driftwood-colored floors. There were a few large boxes, some taller than Sasuke, propped against one of the walls and many others covered most of the floor. Several large pieces of furniture were still wrapped in plastic and bubble wrap to protect them from being damaged during a move.

            “Did you just move here?” Sasuke looked around, his eyes finding Naruto who was leaning against the door frame.

            “No,” he replied, running his hand through his hair. “Just never unpacked, that’s all.”

            “Do you need me to help you with this or something?” Sasuke asked.

            “No need, I should have it all done in a couple of days. Will you be fine till then?” Naruto asked. “I can always repeat…”

            “I’ll be fine,” Sasuke interrupted him, feeling his face heat up.

            “Ok,” Naruto said, noticing the way he avoided his eyes. “Let's get back upstairs to go over the contract.”

He turned off the light, letting Sasuke walk out and locking the door behind him. They made their way back to the kitchen, where Naruto put on some water to get warm for tea. He had two folders on the counter with each of their names on one.

            “Have you ever had a contract before?” Naruto asked, getting two cups out for them.

            “No,” Sasuke replied.

            “So the deal with contracts, they are a negotiation of sorts, a way to define what we are and aren’t willing to do,” Naruto started. “This doesn’t have to be done in one night, and it can be amended at a later date if needed.” He handed Sasuke a cup of earl grey tea and picked up the folders; taking them into the office, he made himself comfortable in the reading chair. Sasuke took a seat on the sofa, setting his cup on the side table to cool.

            “Why do we have to have a written contract?” Sasuke asked, mildly curious.

            “In some situations, a written document is not necessary, however when it comes to people who are unfamiliar with each other, it is always a good idea to lay out the expectations beforehand and have a record for reference if needed.”

Sasuke didn’t reply, but it made sense to him. He didn’t know Naruto well and wasn’t sure how far the blond was willing to go. Although, he wasn’t sure how far he was willing to go either, so…

            “This is the draft, once we go through it, I’ll make the clean version for us to sign,” he said, handing Sasuke his folder and taking out the sheets of paper.

Sasuke opened his folder, looking at the contents of the first page. His name was typed into the header, followed by the word ‘submissive’ and the date. He looked over the basic context, most of the initial text defining who was who and their roles in this relationship.

            “As far as contracts go, this one is pretty basic. Mainly because you won’t be living with me, and the exchange is going to be more-or-less one-sided. The first part goes over the mutual consent and defining our roles. As a submissive, you are to follow my commands without question or risk punishment – which we will go over later. During our time together you agree to relinquish all control and let me make all the decisions, unless your input is specifically requested.”

Naruto sipped on his tea, watching the raven’s eyes run over the terms and stipulations. Sasuke chewed on his lip as he read over the first half of the page, understanding the exchange of power between them. There was a clause on submissive’s right to veto a request that allowed him to disregard any command that is either illegal, likely to cause harm to his social life, body, or mind. There was talk of the safe word as well.

            _Damn, this thing is detailed_ , Sasuke thought as his eyes scanned the rest of the page.

            “The veto clause can be used if you ever feel like you’re in danger, whether from physical trauma or psychological. I have no interests in causing you harm, just hurting you a bit,” Naruto smirked behind his mug, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

Sasuke read over the ‘submissive’s role’, his eyebrows knitted together at one of the words.

            “Do I have to call you Sir?” Sasuke asked, almost annoyed.

            “Yes,” Naruto replied, his tone holding no room for negotiation. Sasuke sighed but kept his eyes moving to read the rest. He read over the larger section that spelled out the role of the Dominant.

            “As you can see, I will be responsible for not only your pain and pleasure, but also for your physical and mental wellbeing. This means, you will never be left unsupervised during a scene that involves any kind of restraint,” he stated firmly, still pissed with Sasori about putting Sasuke in danger. “I will take care of you after our sessions, which implies you spending the night in one of the guest bedrooms. I can drive you to work the next day if necessary, otherwise you are welcome to come and go as you please.”

Sasuke shrugged, not caring one way or the other. Naruto’s place wasn’t that far from him, and if he really had to, he could walk or catch a five-dollar Uber. Yes, even tiny towns have them. The raven continued to read, turning the page as he went. His eyes widened at the next part.

            “Symbol of ownership?” he asked, feeling like he should clarify that he wasn’t signing up to be a pet.

            “Think of it as a token of submission. When you wear it, it will signify that you are willing and eager to be dominated,” Naruto clarified.

            “Is it going to be a collar?” Sasuke asked, remembering all those times he had to wear a similar item that left bruises for days after.

            “I haven’t decided yet,” Naruto replied, crossing his leg over the other. “However, if it is, it won’t be like the ones you wore before. Your skin is too delicate to be so careless with.”

            “Hn.” Sasuke averted his eyes and went back to the contract.

So far, the temporary branding seemed to be the only hick-up that Naruto could see as Sasuke read over the pages, his dark eyes scanning and stopping at few places before continuing their journey to the end of the page.

            _And calling me Sir_ , Naruto thought while he waited for Sasuke to get to the next section _. I’ve got to get at least something out of this exchange, and making him say it seems quite satisfying._

Noticing Sasuke’s current location, he set down his teacup and picked up his contract, opening it to the next page.

            “Now, before we move onto the next part, do you have any questions over what you just read or would like to change anything?” Naruto asked, wanting to make sure their terms were well understood and agreed upon.

            “It’s fine,” Sasuke replied, since he was certain that Naruto wasn’t going to budge on his title.

            “Alright, then the next part lists all of the things that I am willing to do and what you are willing to have done to you,” Naruto said, looking at the two column table that listed about twenty or so items. “Now, everything listed is what I have done and would be willing to do to you. However, some of those I am not a fan of. And honestly, as a medical professional, I would advise against them due to the high risk of causing permanent damage.”

Naruto suppressed a shiver caused by a memory of being called about one poor girl that ended up in the emergency room after her suspension hooks ripped through her skin. He stopped allowing that particular torture scene in his club after that and chose not to participate in any scenarios that involved it.

Sasuke looked through the list, noticing some basic items on it that slowly progressed to more detailed and involving more props and devices. He hasn’t been exposed to too many different things, and he wasn’t sure what a few of the terms meant, but that didn’t mean he was going to mention that to the doctor.

            _I’m sure I can handle it_ , Sasuke thought, as he ran down the list of activities. “It’s all fine.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow, then frowned and rolled his eyes. He realized that he wasn’t going to get far with this, since Sasuke had little regard for his own safety. The blond shook his head, looking down the list of items.

            “You’re telling me that you would be ok with… a suspension by an anal hook?” Naruto asked, fairly certain that Sasuke would not likely be able to tolerate that, almost no one could.

            _Sounds terrible_. “Sure,” Sasuke replied, contradicting his subconscious desire to say ‘hell no!’.

Naruto placed his elbow on the leather chair, leaning his cheek against his fist. He observed Sasuke, picking up the way he gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles contracting. Naruto sighed.

            “Sasuke, let's leave this part for a later date. I want you to go take this home, look up anything you don’t know, that way you can make an informed decision.” Sasuke looked away, not wanting to admit that he was caught trying to slide by without actually considering everything.

            “How about we talk about the punishment now.” _Since you’re so blandly wanting to disobey already_. Naruto flipped the page.

Sasuke read the short paragraph describing things that would warrant a punishment, the first one said: **Lying**. Sasuke glanced up at the blue knowing eyes, making him look down quickly, his face feeling hot.

            _Damn, he caught me already_ , Sasuke through _. I guess I’ll just have to get better at hiding it._

            “You won’t be able to lie to me,” Naruto said, catching the contemplative look on Sasuke’s face, followed by the redness on his cheeks spreading.

            _Mind-reading motherfucker_ , Sasuke kept his eyes on the paper, not wanting to give anything else away.

            “Plus, there really is no reason to lie to me, Sasuke. I’ve seen and heard it all, I won’t judge. The more honest you are with me, the more effective this arrangement will be.”

            “You’re exhausting,” Sasuke said, leaning back against the sofa.

            “It’s not me, it’s you trying to close yourself up from me and keeping you body stiff as a board in hopes of preventing me from reading your body language. Which won’t work, just an fyi,” Naruto smirked when Sasuke’s posture relaxed, and he let out a few deep breaths.

            “So what will the punishment be?” _Maybe I can just break enough rules to get what I need while he does that_. Sasuke plotted a ways around the requirement for honesty.

            “Since your main objective is pain, it can be anything but that,” Naruto smirked, knowing Sasuke’s train of thought. The raven glared at him, giving him a nasty look that only made the blond chuckle.

            “Fucker,” Sasuke said under his breath.

            “I’m going to let that one slide, just this once,” Naruto’s smile didn’t fade, but his eyes narrowed dangerously.

            “Hn.” Sasuke refrained from saying anything else that wanted to spill from his lips.

Naruto looked at his watch, checking the time before he had to leave for work. Needing to finish up, they moved on to the last page of the contract. This one talked about confidentiality, which Sasuke understood was important. The doctor was putting his trust in him not to reveal any salacious details that would potentially damage his career. There was also a short paragraph at the end, titled:

 

**‘Reciprocal Sexual Contact’**

In case of reciprocal sexual contact desired by submissive, such engagement would be allowed under the following circumstances:

  1. Begging in explicit detail AND vocal request of the activity desired.
  2. The submissive calls the Dominant - Master.



 

Sasuke read the lines over twice just to make sure he understood.

            “Well, that ain’t happening,” Sasuke said definitively. The preposterous idea of his begging for any kind of sex was ludicrous. _And I’m sure as hell never going to call anyone Master._

            “I figured as much,” Naruto said dismissively, completely expecting the response.

He inserted the clause mainly because he needed Sasuke to know what it would take if the opportunity arouse. The actual begging and title didn’t do much for Naruto, but knowing what kind mental obstacles the stubborn man would have to overcome to get there, it would be enough for him to consider complying with his request.

            “Alright, the rest is basic contract terminology. Take it home and read over it. Now, about tomorrow, we’re going on a fieldtrip,” Naruto said with an excited smile.

            “Fieldtrip?” Sasuke echoed.

            “What better way to have you learn about BDSM than to observe it first-hand, right? So, we’re going to _The Precipice_.” Naruto watched the surprised expression pass over the raven, he didn’t seem to object to the idea. Although, Naruto chose not to disclose that Saturday was their annual Halloween Costume party, which was a fairly big deal and has grown to an impressive size over the last half a decade.

            “It’s a couple of hours drive, so I’ll pick you up at 6 pm. Don’t worry about clothes, I've got you covered.”

            _Please don’t pick something weird_ , Sasuke hoped silently.

            “Don’t worry, it won’t be anything too crazy or weird,” Naruto replied, the array of facial movements was practically like sign language to him. He chuckled when Sasuke looked up the ceiling, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

            “You’ve got to quit the mind reading.”

            “No can do, Sasuke, we’d have very boring conversations then,” Naruto chuckled.  

Naruto put his papers back in his folder, placing them on the coffee table and standing up. Sasuke followed suit, tucking his folder under the arm. Within a few minutes, the two were back in Naruto’s car and making their way down the road towards Sasuke’s apartment. The man stayed silent through his drive home; if Naruto had to guess, he was still thinking about whether or not he wanted to participate in this. However, he was in a difficult position where he had to choose between loss of sanity from lack of sleep or entering into a potentially uncomfortable relationship with a stranger. Although, he had a feeling that uncomfortable relationships with strangers were not new to the brooding youth.

            “Have a good night, Sasuke,” Naruto said when the raven got out of the car. If his sleepy gaze was any indication for what’s to come, Naruto had a feeling that the raven should be well rested for tomorrow.

            “You too,” Sasuke replied. He closed the door and walked toward his building without much of a glance back.

Naruto watched until he disappeared through the door before pulling away and making his way to the hospital. He smiled, the thought of what’s to come made it hard for him to remain neutral and detached. It’s been a while since he dominated anyone, and the thrill of taking on such a challenging sub brought back parts of himself that he thought he had left behind.

 

 

 

  

_To be continued…._

SOoooo? What do you think? Don't forget to comment so that I know you guys are still interested in the story.

Also, I hope this wasn’t too boring. I needed to get the boundaries set for them before I start breaking them down. The next chapter should be HELLA exciting! We get to meet more characters, check out some BDSM scenes, and maybe even start making Sasuke realize that there could be more to this D/s thing than just pain and good sleep ; )


	5. Field Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto takes Sasuke to the Precipice to show him a different side of BDSM.

**Happy New Year to my wonderful readers!!! I hope you enjoy this segment of BSAV, and I hope that this 16K addition to the story makes up for my long absence.**

**WARNING!!! This chapter will *mention* several hardcore BDSM practices.**

 

A MILLION THANK YOUs to the INCREDIBLE   **TeethOfBerenice**   for editing my story. You are THE BEST and I'm sure my readers really appreciate you <3 <3 <3

**Chapter 5: Field Trip**

Naruto typed the last of his email, before closing the laptop and walking back to the bedroom. The situation with Sasuke was progressing, albeit sluggishly; however, the ethical grey zone he was skirting weighed on his mind. He knew that it _may_ become an issue, which bothered him to a point, because crossing the patient-physician line was not something he did lightly. Although, being a doctor in a tiny town of twenty thousand people, you were bound to run into some former patients. Therefore, unless he alienated himself from everyone, he would eventually develop connections with patients outside of the hospital. Although, seeing an ER physician was much less intimate than seeing a psychiatrist or an oncologist that required frequent and close relationship with their patients. As the same time, Naruto was not about to go into this blindly, so he reached out to his lawyer, the same one he used during the transition from being a BDSM club owner to a full-time physician. The man had some fancy footwork in transforming unfavorable traits into essential skills that were undeniably brilliant and even desired for his profession. The man negotiated his contract with the hospital and had a good grasp on the medical ethics.

        _We need to try to keep things separate as we move forward,_ he thought, while taking off his clothes, and hopped in for a quick shower before going to bed. It was almost 7 am, which gave him plenty of time to sleep and get ready for tonight. He brushed his teeth, checking his email one more time and seeing a reply from The Precipice _:_

       ‘Update on the new pet, D got you covered. We’re looking forward to seeing you, it’s been a while.’

Naruto smiled at the reply, the new ‘pet’ was definitely going to learn some manners if D had anything to do with it. Not bothering with the reply, he set an alarm for a few hours later than normal, just to make sure he got enough rest to get them back home safely. They could always spend the night in the city, but he didn’t think it was necessary as long as they left at reasonable time. He was also glad he had the foresight to do a little online shopping for Sasuke a few days ago. He wasn’t certain if the raven could go this weekend, but he figured he could use the outfit on a different occasion if such time ever came up.  Letting his mind wind down, Naruto was asleep within minutes.

Several miles away Sasuke got dressed for work, feeling almost as refreshed as he did the day before. He wasn’t certain what made the last encounter different, well, technically he knew since he could walk fine the next day. However, he didn’t think that the lack of sex should have made the feeling of euphoria and mental numbness last this long. Usually, by the second day, he started to feel antsy; the uneasy thoughts and flashes of images would start to emerge by now, but he seemed to be doing fine.

It wasn’t until the end of the shift, while he was washing his hands, that he felt the specks of blood on his skin. He ignored the imaginary drops of crimson, knowing that they weren’t there and not actually seeing anything when he finally looked down at his spotless hands. The feeling was there though, like warm maple syrup that accidentally spilled on your hand as it was poured. He’s been dealing with this for years, sometimes it started off with this phantom memory, other times it was the suffocating feeling of guilt and agonizing despair that woke him up at night, keeping him from closing his eyes for days.

After finishing the rest of his shift, he said his goodbyes and made his way home. He had enough time for a nap, since he was unlikely to get much sleep after another day or two. Hopefully, this arrangement with the doctor would be settled by then. He wasn’t even sure what the plan was right now, but he chose to allow the blond to run the show and decided to follow his orders, at least for now. After his nap, he planned to go over the contract, which mainly consisted of turning on his private browser and searching the half dozen unfamiliar kinky terms from Naruto’s long list of activities.  

x

Naruto took two stairs at a time, finally reaching Sasuke’s floor and knocking on the door ten minutes before six. The raven opened after a few seconds, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. A towel covered his naked shoulders, soaking up the errant drops of water that fell from his hair. He let the door swing open, not bothering with the greeting, and walked back to his bathroom, knowing that the man would make himself comfortable whether he allowed it or not.

Naruto tried to divert his attention from the low hanging drawstring pants and the twin dimples that adorned the small of his back. The man was fit; he wasn’t sure if Sasuke actually worked out or if he was just genetically predisposed to being lean, but the amount of muscles that he could see was likely a result of some sort of athletic activity.

        _It’s possible to be lean with just a diet, but those abs took more than just salad_. Naruto followed him to the bedroom and sat down in the chair after the raven disappeared into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

       “I brought you your outfit,” he said when Sasuke walked back in and took the paper bag he was carrying.

Sasuke eyed the blond, who looked to be dressed mostly casually. He was wearing his black fitted jacket, with a white shirt underneath. The light grey cotton pants were more loose than the dark jeans he usually wore, slightly lower front lengthening his torso, while the bottoms tapped down and hugged his calves with soft light-colored leather that started about halfway down his shin and ended at his black boots.

       “You know, if that crotch was much lower, someone might think you’re wearing a diaper,” Sasuke said, taking the bag with him into the bathroom.

       “Ha-ha, aren’t you hilarious,” Naruto said sarcastically. The pants were from last year’s genie costume. He liked how comfortable they were, the sturdy fabric contrasted with the wide soft leather bands around his lower legs and torso.

Sasuke put the bag on the counter and took out a soft black t-shirt, definitely at least one size smaller than what he usually wore, and a pair of black jeans. He shrugged, taking off his pajama pants and slipping into the jeans. He was glad he wore a pair of his short briefs; the fit of the pants was tight, but not uncomfortable due to the amount of stretch in the fabric. Sasuke pulled on the cotton t-shirt, the V-neck showing a bit of his collarbones and the torso-hugging material stretching over his abs. He was grateful that the length was appropriate and the shirt didn’t ride up to his belly button like so many of others did if he actually wore the correct size. The sleeves went midway past his biceps and ended with a wide black leather cuffs that gripped his arms. Overall, he looked somewhat casual, but with an edge. Taking a minute, he styled his hair as usual.

Naruto admired the form-fitting outfit when Sasuke stepped out of the bathroom. The man usually wore clothes that were at least two sizes too big on him, so seeing him in something that fit was refreshing. Naruto made a twirling motion with his index finger. The raven raised his eyebrow but complied, doing a quick spin for Naruto.

       “Not bad,” Naruto said, smirking at his pick. It was still missing a few props, but he wasn’t going to tell Sasuke that. “Ready to go?”

       “Yeah,” Sasuke said, grabbing his black leather biker jacket from the closet, one of the few items that he splurged on. The multiple zippers, silver buttons, and ribbed details usually sent a signal to the correct people when he tried to pick someone up.

Naruto appraised the jacket that fit like a glove on his shoulders and arms, stretching just in the right places to accentuate his muscles. His mind stalled for a moment at how stunning the man looked in all black; the simple monochromatic outfit highlighted his pale skin, making it practically glow against the dark material.

        _Fuck, maybe I should have gone with an ill-fitting ninja costume or just covered him head to toe in pajamas._ Naruto’s face contemplated any possible alternatives, and then he sighed in defeat. _It’s not like he is going to need any help attracting potential Doms, but I guess having him look this fuckable is technically not a bad thing._ Sasuke raised an eyebrow after the blond just stared at him silently for several moments.

       “You look good. Let's go,” Naruto answered his gaze, then turned around and walked out of the room.

       “Hn.”

They pulled out of the neighborhood as the sun was nearing the horizon, beautiful ombre of rose and purple clouds coloring the sky. Sasuke stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt the comfortable silence. However, after about twenty minutes, Naruto finally dispelled the peaceful calm.

       “So, did you learn anything new?” Naruto asked, keeping his eyes on the road, but the smirk on his lips told Sasuke _exactly_ what he was talking about. The raven gritted his teeth, eyeing the blond who looked like the Cheshire cat.

        _That I don’t want anything to do with the most of it,_ Sasuke thought.

Sasuke took several minutes to consider how he should answer. He didn’t think that telling the truth would yield anything productive, since making the doctor think he was unwilling to participate seemed like a step in the wrong direction. However, saying that he was down for everything was hardly believable, so he decided to go with a half-truth. Naruto glanced at him a few times, seeing the internal struggle that was broken up by the occasional tap of his finger and furrowed concentration on his brow, which made it apparent that Sasuke wasn’t just willing to tell him outright what he found.

       “No mummification,” Sasuke finally replied.

In the middle of this contemplation, Naruto saw the slight drainage of color from the raven’s face and the way his hand clenched his knee, making him believe that total and complete immobilization was definitely not his cup of tea.

        _What am I going to do with you,_ he sighed, knowing that the raven wasn’t being completely upfront about everything, but let the obvious partial admission go, since Sasuke was actually providing him with an answer. He had a feeling there were a lot more, but getting the man to tell him was going to be difficult. _One step at a time._

“Well, I guess I won’t be getting the vacuum-bed out of storage,” Naruto chuckled, trying to ease the tense posture of his passenger. He wasn’t sure if it was the constriction, complete sensory deprivation, or something else that made the raven have such strong aversion to the practice. _It is definitely not for everyone._ “What else?” he asked, hoping to keep the conversation going.

       “I’ll pass on the anal hook suspension too.” Sasuke looked out of the window, seeing only darkness now as they sped down the interstate.

            “Good,” Naruto said, glad that Sasuke was choosing to stay away from the extreme spectrum of BDSM. It also helped that Naruto didn’t list any particular activities that he didn’t enjoy, those involving blood and feces were definitely off limit for him. Some other ones were not on his list just because of how damaging the practice could be, even if done with uttermost care. “What else?”

Naruto could almost feel the temperature in the cabin rising, the conversation turning both of their thoughts toward the things they could, but would not do together. The healthy looking pink of Sasuke’s pale cheeks was enough of a sign that he was not prepared to tell him more than he had already disclosed.

       “Sounding,” Sasuke finally said, the thought of inserting something down his urethra sounded entirely unappealing – no pun intended.

       “Yeah, I don’t recommend that either, very high risk of getting a UTI. But I’m still surprised of how many people enjoy it, men and women,” Naruto said, looking out over the road. “It reminds me of a story I heard from another doc during residency. He once had a patient that had to have a Foley catheter inserted, but she kept pulling it out so the poor nurses had to keep reinserting it. And after almost a dozen times, he finally told the patient if she didn’t stop, he would put a suprapubic catheter in her.” Naruto laughed, remembering the frustrated doctor. “Suprapubic catheter goes through the abdominal wall directly into the bladder, bypassing the genitals.”

       “Ew,” Sasuke said, but the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, the atmosphere a little lighter than before. Naruto turned on his Pandora, playing some mix of alternative and EBM. He wasn’t sure what the raven liked, but he didn’t seem to mind the sound, even raising an eyebrow at one of the songs he seemed to recognize.

       “Can I ask you a few questions?” Sasuke uttered after a while.

            “Sure,” Naruto replied, smiling at his passenger.

            “Where did you go to medical school?” he wasn’t sure why he asked but figured he’d have to start somewhere.

            “Northwestern University in Chicago,” Naruto replied. “I finished my residency there as well.”

            “So how does _The Precipice_ fit in all that?” Sasuke asked, he was truly curious about how a doctor ended up as a BDSM club owner.

       “Ah. Well, that’s kind of a long story that may need to be saved for another day,” Naruto replied, the closed mouth smile never leaving his face.

Sasuke took that as a polite way of saying that it was none of his business. He didn’t seem to mind, since he was also unwilling to share many aspects of his past.

“You mentioned that you’re still a part of the club, can you tell me what you do?”

            “Sure. I am in charge of vetting the new members, as well as keeping up with the current ones. When people request membership at _The Precipice_ , they pretty much sign a contract that allows me to completely dissect their lives. It includes: criminal, social, and medical background. No stone is left unturned, if there is dirt on them, I’ll find it. If everything looks in order, then I submit my recommendation for approval.”

       “Does that mean that there are no criminals that can join the club?” Sasuke asked, surprised by the level of detail that went into accepting new patrons.

            “Not exactly. I can tell you that there are no members with any outstanding warrants or currently under litigation for criminal activity. Sometimes I do give people the benefit of the doubt, even if their past is less than squeaky clean. They just have to make sure to stay out of the system. Although, there are some crimes that we do not ignore, such as non-consensual violence and most of the time – murder.”

            “Most of the time?” Sasuke eyed the blond, wondering what kind of a club would always exclude rape, but not murder.

       “Well, there is a difference between involuntary manslaughter and premeditated murder. Accidents happen, so, as long as they did not involve any kind of BDSM related situations, I tend to look at them on case-by-case basis,” Naruto explained. “Also, everyone is required to have a blood work done twice a year, condom use is encouraged, but this way I can make sure there isn’t anyone who is slacking on their end.”

“What would happen if they didn’t get their tests done?”

“The access to the club is denied, and they would need to contact me before it can be restored.”

            “Sounds like you’ve got these things figured out.”

            “It took a lot of trial and error, several bad apples, and some smart patrons that showed us how they could cheat the system.” _The Precipice_ was his baby for a long time, and Naruto was proud of the progress they made over the years. It’s been a while since any unfortunate characters entered their club.

            _Although, I think we need to reconsider turning away those who are a little too eager to get into this, it might be doing more harm than good._ Naruto eyed the man next to him, remembering the anger he felt toward a certain red-headed idiot.

He felt partially responsible for the danger Sasuke put himself into, because he personally denied Sasori the chance to join the club. It wasn’t due to anything incredibly serious, but a few incidents of unsavory behavior at the previous universities Sasori taught at put up too many red flags for him to allow it. Maybe if he did let him join years ago, he would have turned out differently and actually had the chance to become a proper Dom.

            _It’s never too late to learn,_ Naruto chuckled to himself.

It wasn’t long until they saw Chicago’s skyline on the horizon, the lights stretching as far as the eye can see. Naruto drove them through the city, avoiding the endless pedestrians milling about, stylish young people glued to their phones as they narrowly avoided lampposts and each other. He followed a well-known path to one of the newly renovated urban sectors. The area was previously subjugated by closed factories and low-income neighborhoods, but now it was flourishing with new life. Shiny high-rises stood like monuments of achievement, while streets were packed with people exploring bars and restaurants that supported the nightlife. They pulled up to one of the tall buildings, taking a turn into a private parking garage and into a designated spot. Naruto parked, got out and opened the trunk. Sasuke stepped out and stretched his back, his joints stiff after the two-hour ride.

Naruto took out an oversized bag containing the rest of their costumes in a large box. He locked the car and made his way to the elevators, making sure Sasuke was following. The raven didn’t say anything else during their ride up but noticed that the doctor had to use what looked to be a hotel key to get the penthouse button to light up.

            “Sasuke, I hope you have fun, but do your best to stay near me. Tonight is going to be a bit crazy, and I don’t want you stumbling onto something that would scar you for life,” Naruto smirked at him, making Sasuke roll his eyes.

The door dinged, announcing their arrival to the top floor. As soon as it opened, Sasuke could see that this place was in a league of its own. The entrance to the club was a showpiece, all of the walls were lined with tufted maroon leather, and the luxurious velvet doors were sealed and had a digital lock on them. Sasuke could hear a faint pulsing of the music behind the walls that practically exploded as soon the doors opened after Naruto swiped his card and entered the code. The bass vibrated in the air around them, making the hairs on his neck stand up and his heartbeat speed up to match the music. Sasuke could feel the initial adrenaline rush that came with entering such a new and exciting place.

Naruto watched his reaction carefully; the dilation of his pupils, the slight increase in his carotid pulse, and a small intake of breath told him everything he needed to know. He smiled, gesturing toward dark hallway that reminded Sasuke of a cave that lead to a forbidden treasure.

            “Welcome to _The Precipice_ ,” Naruto whispered, taking Sasuke’s wrist in his hand and guiding him through the darkness.

Naruto took a few turns, pulling them farther into the club and away from the music. Sconces dimly lit the dark purple hallways, making the space seem even more private. They passed a few corridors, until finally stopping by a set of double doors which once again required the use of the keycard along with a passcode. Naruto unlocked it and walked in, dropping his bag onto one of the burgundy chesterfield sofas. A large desk stood by the center wall, heavy and ornate with decades of character.

            “The restroom is through there,” Naruto said, pointing to one of the doors.

Sasuke looked around the exquisite décor, appreciating the masculine but refined interior. He saw the large black and white photographs lining the walls, gravitating immediately to a few of them. Most displayed some form of bondage, few of the pictures were edited to make the rope colors pop. Silky looking reds and blues snaked around the bodies, juxtaposed with the light bound skin. Several pictures featured dark-skinned models, bound by bright yellow ropes that made the smooth ebony skin feel delicious and rich.

While admiring the keen eye of the photographer, the raven didn’t even notice when Naruto left and returned from the bathroom. The blond sat on one of the couches, watching Sasuke study each photograph with interest. He figured out that Sasuke enjoyed photography when he came to his place the first time, multiple books about it lining a small bookshelf were a dead giveaway. Sasuke seemed to prefer black and white pieces, which used the tricks of light and shadows to hide and highlight the essence of the scene.

            “So, who is the sub? You never told me his name,” Sasuke said, standing in front of a familiar picture that was framed behind the executive chair.

            “Why don’t I just introduce you to each other in a bit,” Naruto replied, taking out the big box from the bag. “Speaking of that, do you want to go by something other than Sasuke? In the beginning, everyone had a scene name, like Kurama. But eventually, we let people choose if they wanted one, many just go with their first names.”

            “Sasuke is fine.” He wasn’t about to get stuck with something stupid.

            “Ok. But first, we’ve got to finish getting dressed.”

            “We?” Sasuke said, barely tearing his eyes away from the portrait in front of him.

            “Both of us are still a bit underdressed for the annual Halloween party,” Naruto grinned at the raven and pulled out a set of wings, holding them up for Sasuke to see.

The raven narrowed his eyes, looking at the intricate leather wings* that were several inches wider than his shoulders. They looked sturdy and compact with individually cut leather feathers that were etched to perfection. Black harnesses connected the two in the front and back, strapping the individual in as if for an actual flight.

            “I was going to get you a devil tail and a pair of horns…”

            “Hell no.”

            “But I figured you wouldn’t like that,” Naruto finished. “But if you change your mind about the devil horns…” he dragged out.

            “I’ll take the wings,” Sasuke said, not wanting to imagine wearing the cliché costume. _At least these are kind of cool_ , he admitted to himself.

            “Good. Take off your jacket, you’ll get too hot where we’re going.”

Sasuke followed his instruction, draping it over the back of the couch. Naruto unbuckled the leather harnesses in the font and guided Sasuke’s arms through the designated openings. Making sure the t-shirt didn’t bunch up anywhere, he adjusted the straps, tightening the leather around his shoulders in a snug fit. He finished strapping the harness in the front, the caged look fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of the club.

            “Not bad,” Naruto said, taking a step back to admire his selection. “Go take a look in the mirror,” he pointed to the bathroom.

Sasuke walked through the door where one of the walls contained a large, full-length mirror. He raised an eyebrow at his reflection. He knew he usually looked good in leather, but the wide straps that ran above and below his chest, focusing the attention on his pecs, made an interesting effect. The harness was tight but comfortable, forcing him to keep his posture straight without constricting his movement; the feeling of being bound sent a chill down his back.

He returned to the room, finding Naruto slipping into his own set of wings. But his were white, the leather standing out against a white t-shirt and tan skin. His shirt pulled against his muscles, the soft fabric stretching over each curve of his fit body. Sasuke watched him for a moment, their eyes met when Naruto pulled at the rest of his straps, buckling them in place. His dark eyes ran down the lean torso, taking in the whole outfit that was complete with leather detail around his waist and calves.

            “I figured you probably wouldn’t want the white pair,” Naruto said, letting Sasuke’s eyes roam.

            “Yeah, I’m good.” _It looks better on you anyways_ , he thought, admiring the buttery bronzed complexion against the white fabric. The man practically glowed, his sandy blond hair and blue eyes making him seem like a perfect angel.

Naruto smirked but didn’t comment on the appreciation he saw in Sasuke’s gaze. The man may have pretended to be a closed box, but after years Naruto spent reading the smallest of facial and body motions of his subs, he didn’t have any trouble.

            “Let's go,” Naruto said and walked out.

  

Sasuke followed the winged man, letting the door lock behind him with a soft click. They walked through the dim hallways, faux candle sconces lighting up every few feet. The blond made the turns easily, as if he knew this place like his own home. Sasuke felt the music as they got closer, the thumping of the beat radiating down his body. They turned down the main hall and made their way to another set of tufted double doors. Naruto paused, looking over his shoulder at the raven, his blue eyes looking like dark sapphires in the low light.

           “Stay close,” he ordered lightly, “and don’t mind the others.”

Naruto pushed open the double doors, letting them swing open. The entirety of Sasuke’s senses were assaulted by the scene within. He felt the whoosh of warm air hit him, heating his chilled skin quickly. The laser lights illuminated the sizable dance floor filled with people moving to the beat of the music that vibrated in his bones with every beat of the bass. The energy of the room permeated with sex and musk wasn’t unpleasant, but distinct nonetheless. He stood there, unable to tear his eyes away from the many skimpy costume-clad bodies, grinding on each other, some wearing latex from head to toe, others barely covered by a few loops of rope.

           “Come,” Naruto whispered into his ear, his hot breath washing over his skin and breaking his trance.

Sasuke wasn’t one to be told twice, at least in this. He followed the blond through the doorway, immersing himself in the atmosphere of pure adrenaline. Few people on the outskirts of the dance floor turned around to welcome the newcomers. As soon as they saw Naruto, the recognition in their eyes was immediate. Some wide-eyed patrons tapped the person next to them hurriedly, others quickly turned their gaze toward the floor and bowed their head.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the reaction toward the blond, who didn’t even acknowledge the onlookers, keeping his eyes forward and posture straight. His strong back was encased in taut leather that strained against his white shirt, allowing the bold outlines of his massive tattoo to peak through the fabric around the wings. His determined walk and sure steps made people around them notice him even without seeing. It was as if a supernatural force just walked through the doors, and the wave of comprehension washed across the dance floor. He was _the_ Dom, Sasuke realized.

        _The fuck is he?_ Sasuke wondered, watching the crowd of people move before them like Moses parting the Red Sea. He heard whispers of ‘Kurama…’ echoing around them.

He tried to keep up as they made their way through the packed bodies, but the people got closer to them as soon as Naruto passed, forcing themselves between them. He was about to push the next person that got in front of him, but felt his wrist being grabbed by an unknown hand. Before he knew it, he was pulled forward, almost losing his balance just before a firm body stopped him from tumbling forward.

           “I told you to stay close,” Naruto whispered in his ear, making sure the raven got his feet under him.

Sasuke felt dozens of eyes land on him, as if they didn’t notice him at the beginning. A few stepped away, allowing him to move beside the blond.

           _Well, this is a first_ , Sasuke thought, not used to being the ignored one of the group. Usually his dark hair and striking features earned him more than a few lustful glances, but tonight all eyes were on his Dom. _My Dom_ …. His mind tried processing the words, unfamiliar feelings of ownership and possessiveness came and went at the same moment as he dismissed the notion.

Naruto didn’t let go of his wrist, but loosened his grip slightly, guiding him through the crowd. Sasuke looked around; men and women ran their eyes up and down the tall Dom. A dark-haired woman in Cleopatra costume licked and bit her lip, hoping to draw his attention. Another man dressed as Indiana Jones, complete with a whip on his belt, adjusted his pants. Naruto ignored all of the suggestive glances and wandering hands that dared to touch his arms in hopes of pulling him to the dance floor. He didn’t even bother declining the invitations, until a pair of pale arms reached out through the crowd and encircled his neck, stopping him in his tracks.

           “Kurama,” a beautiful woman with partly braided long blond hair stepped out from the crowd. “I was hoping you would grace us with your presence this year.” She smiled sweetly, her pale eyes looking almost pupil-less to Sasuke. Naruto didn’t let go on his wrist but used his other arm to wrap her in a warm hug, practically lifting her off the ground.

           “You know I wouldn’t miss our Halloween party,” he said, pulling away from her to look her up and down. She was dressed in a floor-length sky blue gown that draped perfectly around her ample chest, and had several brown leather straps crisscrossing around her slim waist. “Hmm… Let me guess… Mother of Dragons?” Naruto eyed the dragon-shaped pin on her shoulder.

           “You’re good, as always,” she said, not surprised, even though only a handful of people got her costume right on the first try. She glanced around his shoulder, noticing Naruto’s grip on the other man.

           “Sasuke,” Naruto guided him closer to the woman. “This is Hinata, a close friend of mine and a Mistress at the club.” Sasuke nodded his head and the woman smiled at him sweetly.

           “Does this mean that Kiba is Khal Drogo?” Naruto asked, looking around the dance floor where most of the people turned their attention to other things. Few of the partygoers were still looking at them, but most got their fill of wonder and surprise for now, choosing to wait for the next opportunity to approach the Dom since his attention was now completely occupied by a ‘royal’ of _The Precipice._

           “I wish,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “He’s here as a Direwolf,” she shook her head, the long platinum blond hair falling around her face. Naruto chuckled, not seeming to be surprised by her other-half’s choice of costume, the man was always obsessed with acting like one of the canines. “He’s by the bar.”

           “Oh, this I have got to see,” the blond said, making their way around a few dancing couples to the other side of the room.

Hinata walked up to the furry looking creature, complete with grey dog-looking ears and some face paint that was meant to make him look like a wolf but was only mildly successful. He had a fuzzy grey vest on and even had a long tail pinned to his grey pants.

           “Look who I found,” she said, interrupting the man’s excited story he was telling to someone behind the bar. The wolf turned around; his eyes lit up instantaneously, and he practically howled with excitement.

           “Woooooo!!! No way!!!” He hopped down from the bar stool, almost tackling the blond. Thankfully, Naruto let go of Sasuke’s wrist this time and did not drag him along.

           “Kiba. Down,” he said playfully as the man tried to squeeze the life out of him, the tail wagging behind him as if he was a real wolf.

After another few seconds of horsing around, the man finally calmed down, walking over to Hinata and standing by her side. The two looked good together.

           “And who have you brought with you, Kurama?”

The pleasant voice right over Sasuke’s shoulder almost startled him. He turned his face half-way to see a beautiful pale vampire just a few inches behind his black wings. The delicate features, long pearly white fangs and long, silky black hair that spilled around him made him look exquisitely seductive. The white shirt he wore had billowy sleeves and a delicate collar, like what the Victorian era aristocrats wore, while his pale eyes reminded him of Hinata’s.

           “Neji, this is Sasuke,” Naruto introduced the raven, walking over to the two of them.

Sasuke watched them, noticing the change in energy, as if there was something more than casual friendship between them. If Sasuke read the look on Neji’s face correctly, there was a sense of intimate familiarity with the Dom. He looked at the pale face again, wondering if that might have been the sub from the pictures. He tried imagining the man with short hair, but the bone structure was off.

           “And where is your other half?” Naruto asked, grasping some long black strands, letting the silky texture run through his fingers like water.

           “He went to check on the things upstairs, should be back any minute,” Neji replied, not breaking his eyes from Naruto’s pinning gaze. “Speak of the devil,” finally diverting his gaze, he looked at the man walking down the winding staircase at the corner of the dance floor. Sasuke followed his eyes.

There was no mistaking it, it was _him_. His fire-red hair was slightly longer than in the picture, but the strong jaw and pale skin were unmistakable. His eyes were framed by black outline, same as in the picture that was taken years ago. However, the man seemed taller than he imagined, still not nearly as tall as Naruto, but his obviously lean built showed when the leather biker jacket he wore parted to reveal well-developed abs. His low riding leather pants sat inches below his navel, putting the V of his hips on display. The redhead parted the sea of dancers without so much as a glance in their direction, his predatory eyes looked directly at the blond as he made his way over. Everything about him screamed dominance, not an ounce of submission was in sight.

           _Devil is right,_ Sasuke thought, feeling a chill run up his legs as he watched the cold eyes turn to him for just a fraction of a second.

Naruto leaned back against the bar, smirking at the approaching man. He moved his legs farther apart, allowing the redhead to walk in between them. The sub crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin at the Dom, staring him straight in the eyes. Naruto raised an open palm as if to touch a dangerous beast, the cold teal eyes looking like they could shred the man if he made the wrong move. Sasuke held his breath, uncertain of what would happen and if he was in the bloodbath splash zone. However, instead of a violent onslaught to match his freezing glare, the redhead simply closed his eyes and leaned his cheek against the tan palm.

           “Huh?” Sasuke couldn’t keep the sound of confusion and relief from escaping. But beside the sharp glare from the redhead, the two ignored him. He gulped and composed himself, his resting bitch face of indifference back in place.

           “Gaara, have you been good while I’m gone?” Naruto asked, running his thumb across the high cheekbone.

           “No,” the man answered simply, earning him a chuckle from the blond.

           “Good,” Naruto smirked and pulled his hand away.

The redhead stepped back and walked around the bar, coming up to Neji and putting his arm around his waist. Sasuke decided to give up on trying to figure out this confusing interaction; the three obviously shared some kind of history, whether it was all in the past was none of his business, at least that’s what he told himself.

           “Gaara, this is Sasuke,” Naruto said, diverting the redhead’s attention straight to him. The stone-cold eyes appraised him for a second, neither of them saying anything.

           “I bet you two would get along beautifully,” Naruto chuckled at their response to each other, Sasuke’s black eyes not giving in to the intimidating glare of the other man.

Neji pinched Gaara’s ass behind the bar, making him look at him instead of Sasuke. The long-haired man smiled at his partner and then gave him a slow kiss, diverting his entire attention to him now.

           “Gaara and Neji are together,” Naruto said, leaning closer to Sasuke.

           “I gathered that,” the raven replied; he wasn’t sure if he was surprised, relieved, or just indifferent. Naruto rolled his eyes, reading the medley of emotions that passed over his features; the slight raise of an eyebrow, the frown, the long exhale and the slight change in his posture told the blond everything he needed to know.

           “Naruto, you should come back more often,” Hinata said, referring to the Dom by his real name since no one was within hearing distance now that Gaara was here. The man seemed to intimidate everyone but Naruto and maybe Neji.

           “Yeah, I’ll try,” Naruto replied, but both knew it was not a promise.

Things were this way for a reason, from what Sasuke could gather. It didn’t seem like anything catastrophic had happened, based on everyone’s interaction with the blond so far. The man was well respected, admired, and definitely desired, judging by the glances he still kept getting from around the club.

           “Gaara, you know your riding outfit is not really a costume, right?” Naruto said, teasing the redhead. Sasuke noticed the Ducati logo stitched onto the black leather along his arm.

           “And you’re supposed to be an angel?” Gaara smirked. “Don’t you think that’s ironic?” Neji chuckled next to him.

           “I thought it might be,” Naruto smirked, winking at the couple.

           “Yeah, the Kyuubi, the Demon Fox, an angel! That’s hilarious!” Kiba laughed hysterically a few feet away, his whole body shaking.

Before anyone knew what happened, Naruto was behind Kiba in a flash. The next second the wolf was falling straight down as his knees gave out on him after Naruto gently nudged them from behind, but before he hit the solid floor, the doctor caught the back of his scruff and gently lowered him to the ground. Hinata giggled behind her hand at her husband. Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly at seeing the man being taken down that easily.

           “I’m sorry, Sir,” Kiba said with his head lowered, even his ears drooped in an apology. Naruto sighed and smiled, letting the man go.

           “Stand.” He ordered, not actually offended one bit. He winked at Hinata, who smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.

           “Please, let me make it up to you, Sir,” Kiba clenched his hands in his lap.

           “Not today, Pet,” he replied in a stern voice.

           “Please, Sir,” Kiba practically begged, putting his head down to the ground. Naruto sighed, pretending to think about it.

           “Fine,” Naruto finally gave in. He’s known Kiba and Hinata for years and was well aware of his kinks, and this was one of them. “Do you have a leash?” Hinata untied one of the straps from around her waist, handing it to the Dom. “You get to spend the next half an hour on all fours, follow Hinata like a good pet. Understood?” He reached around his neck and clipped the strap to the collar that Sasuke though was just a regular choker necklace before.

           “Yes! Thank you, Sir,” Kiba bowed and looked at his Mistress.

           “Come on, Pet. I want to go upstairs for a bit,” Hinata smiled and gently tugged on the leash.

The raven watched the whole scene curiously, the dynamic of this group was unlike anything he has ever seen. The two retreating people seemed to be happily completing the assigned punishment. Sasuke wasn’t sure who this punishment was for, since Naruto wasn’t the one to be enjoying parading the man like a dog, but the smile and eagerness on the kneeling man’s face was unmistakable.

           “I noticed he was wearing knee pads under his pants,” Naruto leaned over and whispered to him. “Otherwise, I would have had him do something else he enjoys.”

           “Yeah, you could have had him chew on your shoe,” Gaara said across the bar behind Neji, both arms around the Victorian vampire.

           “I put on the wrong shoes for that,” Naruto smirked, “recently shined these.” The toxic chemicals in the shoeshine were not safe for consumption.

           “Considerate as always. So, Sasuke,” Neji started, amused with the raven’s lack of most outward reactions. “How long have you been into BDSM?”

           “Six month or so,” he said after a few moments.

           “Aww… I remember those innocent days of foreplay,” Neji said, leaning his head back against the strong shoulder behind him.

           “He’s gotten a little bit more than just foreplay so far,” Naruto replied, not wanting to give away all of Sasuke’s recent activities with a shitty dom, but making him look a bit more than just a baby when it came to this lifestyle.

           “Speaking of, where is D?” Naruto asked.

           “He’s in 5. Should be done in the next half hour or so if you want to check it out,” Gaara smirked at the raven, who wasn’t sure if he was supposed to know who ‘D’ was.

           “I think we may,” Naruto replied. “How are things running?”

           “Peachy,” Gaara replied, the monotone word seemed comical coming from him.

           “Good,” Naruto replied. “Everyone behaving?”

           “For the most part. One was excommunicated, which you heard about already. Two will need to meet with you within the next month. One needs a surgical consult,” Gaara said, making Sasuke look at Naruto in question.

           “As I said on the way here, I’m in charge of who gets into the club, but Gaara here is the one in charge of who stays,” Naruto explained. “And we have a vast network of private surgeons that deal with commonly sustained injuries that accompany this lifestyle. I’m able to do most surgical clearance for them or refer them for further testing.” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

           “You don’t want to know,” Neji shook his head. “For example, fixing what happens if you get too much of a good thing, when that _thing_ is too big.”

           “Oh,” was all Sasuke could stay after understanding Neji’s implication of what one could consider to be ‘overuse’.

           “But don’t worry, you’re in good hands. Naruto won’t let you do anything crazy even if you beg him for it,” Neji said with a smile.

           “At least not anything that will have any permanent effects,” Gaara smirked at Sasuke, who just glared at him.

At that moment, a brave soul clad in a latex catwoman outfit walked up to the group. She leaned on the bar, sticking out her ass and moving it back and forth, as she leaned her enormous chest on the marble counter. She glanced at Naruto, who looked at her for a fraction of a second.

           “No,” the blond said coolly, causing the bimbo to pout.

           “Damn Kurama,” she murmured to herself, forgetting for a second that Gaara was standing behind the counter.

           “Excuse me?” Gaara said quietly, raising an eyebrow at the woman, snapping her attention right to him. She almost tripped as she pushed away from the bar on reflex.

           “I’m sorry, Sir. My apologies, Sir,” she bowed repeatedly and shuffled backwards, disappearing into the crowd of dancing bodies. Neji laughed at her reaction, Gaara tended to bring out the most submissive parts of people.

           “Gaara is notorious for fear play around here,” Neji explained her reaction to Sasuke. “He can fuck with your mind so hard, you’ll be sore for weeks just thinking about it.” Sasuke looked at Naruto, not remembering fear play being on the list.

           “Yes, I can do that too, but all of my contracts are tailored to the individual subs. It wouldn’t do you any good,” Naruto answered his silent question. Gaara shifted his eyes to the blond, frowning at the man.

           “Yes, we have a contract,” Naruto answered him without even seeing his expression. He’s known the man for almost a decade; he knew what he was thinking without looking at him by now. Neji squeezed Gaara’s arm, making him drop the subject.

           “Sasuke, do you want anything to drink?” Neji asked, switching the subject. “We have some water, soda, and energy drinks.” Neji pointed to the large glass refrigerator stocked with different plastic bottles. “We only allow a small amount of alcohol on most days, but the Halloween parties have high chance of getting out of hand already, no need to encourage our members by getting them drunk as well.”

Sasuke looked at the dancing crowd, slightly surprised to know that most of them were making fools of themselves while sober. The music and lights were doing wonders to their self-esteem, the skimpy costumes exciting the senses more than any alcohol would.

           “Sasuke, would you like to dance?” Naruto asked, looking over the floor. The music was good, the beat lively and easy to follow.

           “No thanks. I don’t dance,” Sasuke replied, pointing to the flavored bottle of water. Neji slipped out of Gaara’s embrace and grabbed the drink for him.

           “That’s what Gaara said when he first met Naruto,” Neji handed him the bottle.

Sasuke glanced at the stiff looking redhead, his austere posture made him doubt that his dance skills were any better than his. Gaara saw the doubt in his eyes and raised his chin in a challenge.

           “Let's go,” Gaara said to the blond, walking around the bar.

           “Will you be ok with Neji for a few minutes?” Naruto asked, not wanting to be rude and leave his guest. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal.

Naruto nodded to Neji and walked toward the dancing mob. He lead the way through the crowded bodies that moved to the beat of ‘Mind’ by Skrillex, the bass washing over them during the chorus. The low tones made the subwoofer throw with a punch, pumping up the energy on the dance floor. Easy to follow pace of the song made it simple to sway to the beat, Naruto moved his body with the music, facing Gaara who kept his focus on his dark blue eyes that reflected the pulsating lights. The redhead always had this calm intensity about him that rubbed Naruto just the right way.

Naruto smirked, moving closer with the music until they were only a few inches apart. Gaara wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him closer, leaving little room between them. He felt the firm grasp of large tan hands over his leather-covered hips, guiding him to move in sync, their bodies nearly flush against each other. The soft fabric of Naruto’s shirt skirted along his naked abs, tickling his sensitive skin. He could see the playful glint of the blue eyes, always watching and studying his reaction. He felt the jacket zipper run across one of his nipples, making the bud harden and causing the blond’s smirk to get even more naughty. Most patrons around them paid no mind, but a few noticed the reclusive owners make a surprise appearance on the dance floor. Those who have known them in the past slowed their dancing, deciding to give them their full attention.

The strobe and laser lights bounced off the shiny surfaces of the room, scattering sparkles throughout the space. Sasuke took a drink of his water, watching a few of the people escape the dance floor and disappear in a lust-crazed hurry. Some didn’t even bother with hiding their salacious acts, doing just about anything besides actually having intercourse on the floor.

Naruto moved his hands around the leather covered ass and pulled Gaara completely against him, their torsos touching from chest to hip, leaving no space between them. Gaara narrowed his eyes, biting his lip as he felt his growing hardness press against the strong thigh in front of him. Keeping up with the beat, he moved his hips against Naruto, the leather he wore pressing against the naked flesh beneath. He kept his teal-colored eyes on the azure depths that laughed with the knowledge of what his body was doing. Gaara shook his head in amusement, smirking at the blond.

           _Two can play this game_ , Gaara mouthed, knowing that Naruto could read lips easily. The blond laughed this time, the sound disappearing into the music.

           _Let’s see what you can do_ , Naruto thought, raising an eyebrow in a challenge.

Gaara replied by bending back and rolling his hips at a well-timed beat while mouthing the words to the song _\- I'm in a cold sweat and I want you bad -_ as his body connected with Naruto’s steadily growing hardness.

A few more people noticed the couple, some breaking their makeouts mid-session to observe the two men who were only focused on each other and the music. Neji leaned over to Sasuke, who’s been purposely focusing on a variety of random witches and fairies on the other end of the dance floor.

           “You should watch. They tend to be quite impressive,” he said, motioning over to the dance floor with his head.

Sasuke ran his eyes over the crowd, finding the tall head of the blond easily. He noticed their proximity to each other, but he was too far away to see much detail in the dark room filled with other dancers. He wasn’t sure where the doctor’s hands were, but he could guess that they weren’t just by his sides. He saw the glimpse of the naughty smirk on the tan face, his eyes completely focused on his partner, both moving to the music as it ended. He saw Gaara lean over and whisper something in Naruto’s ear during the few second break between songs. Naruto appeared to laugh and shake his head, whispering something back to the redhead. Sasuke could have sworn his eyes met with Naruto’s for a millisecond.

The new song started, the DJ deciding on ‘Horns’ by Bryce Fox to play through the dozen speakers around the room. The tempered beat that dragged to explosive chorus gave them the perfect opportunity to put on a real show. Gaara slid his palms down the blond’s chest, fingers running over the taut muscles and leather, his nails scraping down the white fabric, leaving tracks behind that Naruto could feel on his flesh. The redhead dropped to his knees in front of him, pulling at the leather fabric at his waist with one hand, the other running down his own chest and over the ridges of his abs. Naruto grasped his wrist and pulled him up while simultaneously turning him around and pressing his body against him.

Gaara could feel the hard muscles at his back, the leather buckles of his harness digging into his shoulder blades through the jacket. He felt one large hand slowly make its way to his throat, wrapping lightly around it. He grabbed one of the leather straps behind him, pulling Naruto impossibly close and burying his other hand in the short blond hair. Naruto’s other hand ran down the pale torso, his fingers dipping in the ridges of his muscles before stopping when he reached the belt and pressed his hips backwards. Gaara fisted his hair when he felt the hard cock grind against his lower back.

Sasuke couldn’t tear his eyes away from the erotic display, their bodies moving in sync with the music and each other. They were closer to sensual lovemaking than they were to dancing, and, judging by Naruto’s lips on the other’s throat and Gaara’s hand in his hair to keep him there, he wasn’t far off. The view was blocked by other dancers when Naruto’s hand disappeared into the leather biker pants.

           “I thought Gaara was with you,” he couldn’t help but be curious of Neji’s reaction to this sexual exhibition before them. But the man was watching them with nothing but a smile on his face; his eyes looked pleased - not the reaction Sasuke would expect.

           “He definitely is,” Neji replied, running his tongue against his lip and not taking his eyes off the couple.

           “I think you may have some competition,” Sasuke stated plainly, he wasn’t about to get into this weird triangle, but he did feel kind of awkward since it would have been him out there in the first place, not Gaara. Neji laughed next to him, almost startling him.

           “Sasuke,” he said, looking at him directly. “If Naruto wanted Gaara back, there would be no person on this Earth who could stop that from happening,” Neji said with a genuine smile as he leaned on his hand. “I am grateful for each and every day I get to spend with him, thanks to Naruto. Plus, he isn’t doing this for himself,” Neji turned back to face the erotic display of raw power.

           “I don’t understand,” Sasuke frowned.

           “Does Gaara look or act like a sub?” Neji asked, trying to point him in the right direction.

           “No.” _Hell no,_ Sasuke thought. _He seems almost as much of a Dom as Naruto._

           “And I’m guessing it’s obvious who the sub is between us,” Neji replied and continued without waiting for an affirmative reply. “But between them, who do you think dominates?”

           “Naruto,” he said, the stark difference between the two was obvious, even though Gaara was the aggressor in some part of their dance, he mainly followed Naruto’s lead and allowed his body to be manipulated.

           “There has only ever been one person that could dominate Gaara, and Gaara loved it,” Neji replied, his eyes continued to enjoy the show. “But Naruto also has a purpose for all of his actions, and I can’t wait to find out the end result of this.” His fingers mindlessly ran over his lips in anticipation.

Sasuke looked back at the two, he could see a glimpse of Gaara’s flushed face, his hand still holding onto Naruto’s hair in a death grip. His head was back against the shoulder behind him, but his teal eyes were slightly parted, looking directly at Neji. Sasuke raised his eyebrow, a flash of imagination producing a series of incredibly erotic images that included all of the three men before him. He didn’t look away from Gaara’s face, until he realized that the pair of sapphire eyes were staring right at him. He gulped, feeling a chill run down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the predatory gaze. The blond looked like he was feasting on the man in his arms, and the hungry look was unmistakable. The raven felt his body respond, the warmth migrating down his form.

Sasuke breathed out a long sigh of relief when the song ended, breaking his captivating gaze. He saw Naruto whisper something to Gaara, whose teal eyes were swimming with desire and want, instead of the cold, hard gaze he had before. They walked back toward them, the redhead’s entire focus solely on Neji.

           “Neji, come.” Gaara ordered and walked toward the back door without bothering to make sure he followed.

           “Yes, Master,” Neji replied eagerly, but stopped before Naruto. “Thank you,” he said, rising on his toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re sure you don’t want to join us?” Neji asked.

           “He’s all yours,” Naruto replied with a smile. “Go have fun.”

Neji smiled and walked quickly toward the door through which his Master disappeared, picking up the discarded leather jacket on his way and knowing full well that he was in for a night to remember.

           “You can go with them, you know?” Sasuke said, after the man disappeared behind the door.

           “I’m not here to fuck anyone,” Naruto stated simply, turning his attention back to the raven. “We’re here for a reason, so let's get to the rest of our night.” Before they walked away, Naruto picked up the walkie-talkie from behind the bar and gave a few orders. “Team, we need another person behind the bar and one to round upstairs. Kurama, out.”  A few affirmative replies were heard over the device.

Naruto washed his hands in the bar sink and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, downing most of it in one swig. When they saw an employee approach the area, he waved at him in confirmation, then loosely grabbed Sasuke’s wrist again. He guided them around the dance floor, avoiding the couples that were enthusiastically devouring each other’s months while their hands left no areas untouched.

           “This place will get a lot more risqué in a few hours,” Naruto said when he pulled Sasuke closer to him. His fingers remained on the palpable radial pulse, another objective sign of person’s inner thoughts.

           _More?_ Sasuke wasn’t sure if he could even imagine what ‘more’ would look like on a dance floor.

Since it was so dark in some places, the blond had to utilize more of his sensory arsenal to figure out what Sasuke was thinking. Everywhere was starting to smell like arousal, the pheromones released by over a hundred guests were soon to become an overwhelming force that embodied its own singularity. Sasuke even read somewhere that Rihanna was inspired to write her song S&M by her visit to The _Precipice_ years ago.

They made their way to the staircase and ascended it, the temperature getting warmer before the AC of the next floor quenched the crippling heat. Sasuke didn’t realize that he was covered in a sheen of sweat until the cool blast of air chilled his skin. They looked over the balcony at the dance floor, several people waving at Naruto, some disappointed that he had escaped without giving them the chance to approach him. He ignored them all, but that didn’t deter the screams and howls from some of the patrons, a few flashed their naked breasts at him in hopes of getting his attention. Sasuke could see that Naruto was well known here, or at least Kurama was.

Naruto dismissed them all with an apathetic hand wave, making it clear that he wasn’t here to pick anyone up. A few disappointed groans were heard before the party went back to full swing. Naruto turned toward Sasuke, stepping back away from the balcony and the overwhelming music.

           “Your job tonight is to watch, you don’t need to do or tell me anything else, unless you want to. You can ask questions. Understood?” Naruto asked, making sure that Sasuke knew his role.

           “Yes,” he answered.

           “Good,” he replied, taking Sasuke’s wrist once more and walking toward one of the hallways. Sasuke wondered if he was going to keep holding onto him, but decided he didn’t care enough to ask, plus the feel of the strong fingers around his wrist was not bad, so he just let it go.

           “The Precipice owns top three floors of this hotel,” Naruto started as they made their way through the dimly lit burgundy hallway. “The middle floor houses most of the office rooms and the dance area which can be turned into a place for large group activities.” Naruto didn’t elaborate further on what those activities were, and Sasuke had no interest to ask him. “This top floor has specially designated rooms for BDSM scenes, each holding a variety of tools and equipment to facilitate almost every desire. The bottom floor is just specially equipped hotel rooms that people can use if they want.”

They turned down another hallway and stopped at an open door with a dark heavy curtain over the entrance. Sasuke heard the muffled voices coming through the curtain, the small moans and yelps made his heart speed up a notch. Naruto noticed the rate change on the pads of his fingers and allowed a good minute for Sasuke’s senses to get used to the sounds of this place.

            “Today is one of those special days when we have few of our house Doms and subs put on a little show for the guests. So you’re in for a treat,” Naruto smirked at him and parted the curtain.

Sasuke’s eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the dimly lit room as he looked around to find several people in the middle of a scene. Another lustful moan washed over him, drawing his eyes directly to the man strapped to a chair. The man’s fingers clenched the leather-bound armrests in a death grip, his forearms straining against the unyielding straps that ran around his arms and torso, pressing him flush against the furniture. He bit his lip, trying to contain the moans that were impossible to rein in as a person placed a cock ring around his erect member.

            “I told you, you’re not allowed to cum until your wife does,” said the person placing the ring. The geisha costume, combined with the feminine voice and delicate features embodied the character completely.

Sasuke looked over to the other couple, where an incredibly tall man stood by a blond haired woman who was bent over and tied down to a leather tabletop, her large breasts pressing against the soft surface as she tried to struggle against her restraints. The strap of fabric between her teeth prevented her from speaking clearly while she looked at her husband, then back to her captor.

            “That’s the only way you can save her, or we get to keep her,” the tall man said, his cruel smirk was almost terrifying, his intimidating presence highlighted by the forest green military style uniform and large combat boots. She moaned lewdly when he ripped her skirt, completely breaking the zipper and leaving her ass exposed.

Sasuke’s eyes widened, unsure of how he should react. He understood that this was obviously some kind of fantasy play, but his instinctual need to help a fellow human was making it difficult for him to stay there idly.

            “I want you to watch closely, Sasuke, don’t just see what’s in front of you,” Naruto whispered quietly from behind, loud enough for only the raven to hear. He kept his hand on the pale wrist, Sasuke’s pulse doing double-time as he assessed the situation.

            “What you see is the struggle. But you know that this is a safe and consensual situation, where all of the participants are willing and eager to be here.” He felt the pulse slow down, and watched Sasuke’s face relax and his eyes roam around the group, taking in the little details he didn’t see earlier.

The man in the chair was panting rapidly, his face and torso covered in sweat as the geisha ran a finger down his cock, making the organ jump in response, and the man let out another moan. His eyes were glazed over with pleasure when he switched his unfocused gaze from the brunette before him to his wife, who was being stripped down by the soldier.

            “The geisha’s name is Haku,” Naruto whispered. “He specializes in CBT, needle play, and other things. The guy in the fatigues is Zabuza, he is Haku’s Dom,” Naruto explained. “The other two are husband and wife, they do couples’ scenes, and this one apparently is something about a kidnapping.”

Sasuke didn’t reply, but his mind eased as the knowledge sunk in. The husband moaned again as Haku touched him, getting him close to the orgasm with every stroke but backing off at the last second. Sasuke could see his internal struggle on his face, the desire to cum contrasting with the painful need to resist. It was strangely erotic to see the dynamic between them.

            “Please, please, please…” the husband begged. Sasuke wasn’t sure what he was begging for, to cum, to let him go, to let his wife go? “Please… don’t stop.” His vision swam with tears as Haku edged him closer, but denied the orgasm at the last second. He let out a painful exhale of frustrated relief.

            “You two are doing so well, you may actually make it out of this alive,” Zabuza said, pressing a button on a remote that Sasuke didn’t see until now. The action caused the woman moan and wiggle her ass as much as she could in her current position.

Naruto smirked at the brute man and gave him a wink, amused by how cold and threatening the Dom sounded, especially compared to his sub. However, he knew which one was the more dangerous of the two, and Zabuza had nothing on Haku. He figured this was probably enough of an exposure of this genre for Sasuke to see a consensual play, even if the scene may not be. He pulled on Sasuke’s wrist, guiding them toward the door and leaving without breaking the atmosphere.

As soon as he was back in the hallway, Sasuke felt his lungs fill with cool air painfully. He didn’t realize he has been holding his breaths, not daring to make a move or tear his eyes away from the exchange of power. Naruto studied him, making sure that he was back to baseline before they continued their journey through the club.

Sasuke’s mind was spinning at seeing the raw emotion on the other’s faces - the pure need and want. It was something that he has never experienced himself and has never witnessed until today. Watching porn where everyone is eager and willing was one thing, but seeing it live where you can practically taste the building desire that rolls over your skin is something else.

            _It’s hard to imagine that this is real_ , Sasuke thought as he followed Naruto to another doorway.

In the next room, they found a full on fuckfest. Men and women copulating, some women even had strap-ons. The entire place smelled like a gangbang and sounded like a porno. Sasuke frowned at the overwhelming nudity, averting his eyes from the more explicit couples and groups. Naruto watched his reactions while he scanned the room, noticing the down-turning of his mouth at some particular activities.

            _Interesting, so he really doesn’t care much for group activities or maybe for the actual sex,_ Naruto thought as he continued to observe the raven’s disinterested reaction. Gathering enough information about this particular situation, he led them back out. Sasuke let out a small sigh of relief once he could breath the fresh air and his ears were no longer assaulted by the high pitched moans of some particularly rowdy female that was enjoying herself almost too much.

Naruto paused at the next curtain, taking a second to consider if they should go in. He knew who this room belonged to, but as much as he annoyed him, he figured it would be a good exposure for Sasuke. Making up his mind, he pulled at the curtain and led them inside.

Sasuke walked through the entrance and stopped dead in his tracks. In the middle of the room was a sprawling spider web of red ropes suspending a particularly helpless looking prey. His dark eyes moved over the knots that looped together to make intricate patterns that cast shadows on the walls around them. He didn’t tear his eyes away until a long whooshing sound of a rope being pulled through a bracket on a wall got his attention.

Naruto saw the utter fascination on Sasuke’s face, mouth parted slightly as he held his breath. He wasn’t entirely sure why this captured Sasuke’s attention so completely, but he was very curious and wanted to know more. However, as he predicted, he wasn’t going to have much time to study the raven, because the Master of this room was now aware of their presence.

            “Kurama,” a tall man with almost neon-orange hair said in a low, predatory voice.

            “Pein,” Naruto said, his tone almost annoyed but matching the other Dom’s in its degree of authority.

Sasuke could feel the shift in air between the two; the palpable battle of power between the alphas was obvious. He wanted to step back, but Naruto held him still by his side. The slight motion caused Pein to switch his targets and approach him.

            “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Pein said, his unnaturally purple-colored eyes appraising the black clad angel in front of him.

            “This is Sasuke. Sasuke, Pein,” Naruto introduced them.

            “Hi there,” Pein addressed the raven, Sasuke nodded back and stood his ground. He studied the man: dressed in black leather pants and vest, multiple piercings in his eyebrow, lip, and ears caught the light, giving him even more of an edge.

Pein raised an eyebrow at the defying youth, usually his looks were enough to intimidate almost anyone. However, besides the slight wavering at the beginning, Sasuke stood tall and didn’t back down. Pein licked his lip and chuckled, the throaty sound making its way through the room.

Naruto rolled his eyes internally at seeing the hungry look on the man’s face, the desire to break the raven practically seeping out of his pores.

            “We’re gonna let you get back to your sub,” Naruto said, looking over the man’s shoulder at the tied up prey. The man was blindfolded and completely immobilized in the web, but from Naruto’s quick assessment of the ropes, the restrains were as perfect as he expected. Pein’s mouth twisted into a sly smirk, his eyes narrowed in pleasure when he saw the blond appraising his work.

Pein leaned against the wall few feet away, twisting a long strand of rope he had in his hand around his forearm, putting a bit of extra tension on the end to make the strands creak in protest, but his eyes never left Naruto. He tongued his lip ring, biting the sensitive skin of his lip, pulling at the metal piece as he was pulling at the ropes that strained around his hard muscles.

            “How about you switch with him, uh, Kurama?” Pein nodding toward the bound, suspended man who was breathing slightly more labored due to his lack of sight or knowledge of what was happening.

            “I’ll pass. As always,” Naruto replied.

            “I’ll make sure you love it,” Pein continued, his promise-filled voice lowering to a dangerously seductive octave as the ropes creaked in his grip once again.

            “No,” Naruto said with finality that even Pein couldn’t fight against, however, he still felt confident that the blond would eventually give in and finally let him dominate him. He couldn’t wait for that day, nothing was more satisfying that putting someone like Kurama on his knees and making him come apart at the seams.

            “Then how about you let me borrow him for a night, I can teach him some excellent manners,” Pein switched his targets, knowing that the battle for Naruto’s submission was over, for now.

            “I’m sure you can,” Naruto replied, feeling a slight increase in Sasuke’s pulse when the attention was once again diverted to him.

            “If it’s you, I would even share.” Pein’s smile was now all teeth, the predatory gleam in his eyes practically paralyzed Sasuke in his place.

            “Like I’d even give you that choice,” Naruto replied, the slightly possessive tone colored his words just enough for Pein to catch it, causing him to laugh and break the battle between them.

Sasuke felt like his body snap out of its stupor at the hardy laugh. He couldn’t lie and say that the throaty sound didn’t penetrate his body to the bones. The man was interesting. He was intense, serious about his role as a dominant and by the looks of it – slightly obsessed with getting Kurama to submit to him.

Sasuke looked over the intricate rope design that suspended a mess of a man, whose breathing came in spurts now. He could see the flushed face, the way he was nervously gnawing on his lip, his entire being attuned to his Dom, making every intonation of man’s voice like a caress to his body. Just a laugh made an involuntary shudder run through him, curtailed by the ropes tightly binding him in place. The red lines criss-crossing across his body in knots entwined together to make a magnificent web that trapped all who came within.

Pein walked behind the bound prey, whispering something in his ear that made the man let out a long groan and bite his lip. The Dom reached around him, taking his nipples and squeezing them just enough to cause a surprised yelp from his victim. The breathing increased, but both Sasuke and Naruto could tell that the man wanted to be nowhere else at that moment. Sasuke felt a flush of heat creeping up his neck at witnessing such reactions, something so private up on display for all to see.

            “Bye, Kurama, Sasuke,” Pein said, licking along the pale neck and biting on the earlobe. The man moaned loudly, baring his neck as much as he could to the predator behind him.

Naruto gave him a nod in return, turning around and bringing Sasuke with him. As soon as they walked out, he welcomed the cool air against his skin, then felt a shiver come from Sasuke. The raven’s skin was covered in a sheen of sweat, his whole body being on alert for what felt like an eternity, but was actually just a few minutes. His face was flushed, his pupils still dilated more than they should be in this light, but his breathing started to even out.

            “Pein can be…” Naruto started.

            “Intense,” Sasuke finished for him.

            “Yeah, but he is a good Dom,” Naruto said, he hated to admit it, but the man was one of their best. “Are you up for another room?”

Sasuke nodded, still trying to make his body relax. His mind kept bringing up Pein’s piercing eyes and the accompanying sound of pain/pleasure that came from his prey. The whole scenario was fascinating and unnerving at the same time. Time after time he was tied up at Sasori’s hands, but never has he made him feel like he actually _wanted_ to be there. But today, seeing what a real Dom can do made him curious at the potential. And that scared him.

Naruto paused, feeling the conflicting energy coursing through the raven. He wasn’t sure what exactly about the last room made Sasuke so on edge. The raven’s eyes, focused on something in the distance made it seem like he was fighting a battle within himself. Naruto stood before him, giving him a few moments of self-reflection.

            “Talk to me, Sasuke,” Naruto said softly. He patiently waited for several minutes for the raven to figure out the conflict within, the internal struggle of actually being able to voice what was going through his mind won by just a fraction.

            “They _want_ it,” Sasuke said quietly, then clamped his mouth shut as if he didn’t mean to say anything at all. Naruto’s eyes softened after he understood, he gave him a small smile and nod.

            “And you need it,” Naruto clarified for him, seeing the pained agreement on the raven’s face. “Do you think that need and want have to be mutually exclusive?”

            _Yes?_ Sasuke didn’t say it aloud, partly in fear of shattering the sliver of hope that shined in those blue eyes.

            “Sasuke, these wants and needs are not black and white, it is not a coin to be flipped or a lightswitch. Wanting and needing are like two horses, side-by-side, pulling you forward. One may sometimes outrun the other, but the end destination is the same for both. Most people want to get into this, but need doesn’t come far behind. But you, on the other hand, became involved by only needing the pain; so you’ve had this one horse pulling you, but, Sasuke, she is tired, and she needs a bit of help.”

Sasuke hung his head, feeling the heavy burden on his shoulders, his spirit lifting the boulder of his guilt each day. Every time he managed to get up, he would strap in that emaciated horse to go another day, and then beat it until it could go no more.

Naruto felt the pain with all of his body, seeing the breaking soul in the watering eyes that up until now stayed strong and defiant even in the most uncomfortable situations. He couldn’t help himself and wrapped his arms around the fracturing man, pulling him closer. Sasuke didn’t resist, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad sign. But before someone stumbled across them in the hallway, he moved to a nearby nook hidden behind the curtain. The dark enclosed space limited his sight, but he could feel the body tremble in his arms. Sasuke wasn’t crying, but confusion within him raged on, so he let him stay in a protective embrace that Naruto hoped was doing less harm than good. After several minutes, Naruto spoke, his lips moving against Sasuke’s hair.

            “Let me help you, Sasuke,” he whispered, feeling the raven’s hands clench by his sides, causing a full body shudder. “I’m not going to take away who you are, I just want to show you what’s been neglected.” It took another full minute, but he felt the raven’s fists relax, his body calmed and his breathing eased.

            “I don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for,” Sasuke said against Naruto’s shoulder, his lips almost tasting the skin less than an inch away.

            “Let me worry about the search,” Naruto smiled against his head, feeling like he may have come out on the winning side of Sasuke’s internal conflict. _Sometimes the whip and the carrot switch places, but I think we can find your missing stallion that loves the whip and carrot just as much._

He gave Sasuke another minute to recollect himself until the man was ready to continue their journey. Sasuke slowly pushed himself away and ran a hand through his hair, feeling slightly embarrassed about his reaction and the way the other’s embrace was able to comfort him. It has been years since care of another brought him solace, but Naruto’s words and his solid form gave him the balance he desperately needed when the foundation of his coping strategy was shaken.

            “Ready?” Naruto asked. He wanted to ask if Sasuke wanted to stop now, but he needed to encourage him to step out of his comfort zone. Backing down now may reverse the progress they have made.

He waited for the affirmative nod from Sasuke, then led them to another doorway, skipping a few closed rooms. Sasuke heard a loud voice through the curtain, a few curses flying past his ears. There was a quick smack, then another, a groan followed by a few muffled ‘thank yous’. This is the room where this D-person was, if he remembered correctly.

            “Come on, puppet, I can’t hear you,” the voice said, followed by a louder, but still muffled ‘thank you.’ “That’s better.”

Naruto smirked back at Sasuke, hoping that this may raise his spirit a bit more. The mischievous glint in his eyes made the raven even more cautious of what was behind curtain number 5.

            “D is responsible for education and in this case - re-education, and he just happens to have a new student,” Naruto said, holding back a chuckle. “Why don’t you see for yourself,” Naruto parted the curtain and stepped aside.

The scene stopped Sasuke dead in his tracks, because he recognized the redheaded sub immediately. Except, he has never known him to be a sub before. Sasori was chained to the ceiling, spreader bars keeping his arms and legs shoulder length apart. He had a leather bit in his mouth, the drool was overflowing his lips; his face was flushed and the sweaty hair stuck to his skin. Sasuke looked at he rest of him, trying to figure out what was happening. His entire body was covered in blotches of paint, all different colors were arranged in blocks of saturated hues from head to toe. Sasori’s glazed over eyes barely focused on the newcomers, until he heard Naruto’s voice.

            “Deidara,” Naruto said, greeting his friend.

            “Kurama. What a pleasant surprise! Don’t you think, puppet?” the petite man with long blond hair smirked and crossed his arms to admire his latest art project, the paint dripping off his colored riding crop still in his hand.

Sasori’s eyes widened when he saw the tall blond, but then he saw Sasuke and lowered his head in shame, his arms pulling at the straps.

            “Oh puppet, no need to be embarrassed,” Deidara said, walking over to his restrained sub. “Everyone has to learn eventually.”

Sasori didn’t shrink away from the touch, and instead looked up into the blue eyes of the smaller man. Then his gaze went back to Sasuke, his eyes pleading with him. The confused onyx gaze studied the scene before him, he never thought he would find the Dom in this situation, not in a million years. The man was all about controlling and using him before, now he seemed to be begging him for …?

            “Shall I let you apologize properly?” Deidara asked.

            “No need, I don’t want to prevent you from completing your masterpiece,” Naruto said, knowing how annoyed the man got if he wasn’t able to complete his latest project.

            “Nah, we’re just about done. I need to let him down for a bit anyways, otherwise he won’t feel his arms for days,” Deidara said and walked over to the straps holding him in place. “And we have learned that bondage play can only happen if you know the consequence of what could happen if you’re not careful,” he said, looking directly at Sasori, who nodded quickly in agreement. “Now, be a good puppet and apologize to Kurama and Sasuke properly, and I may reward you tonight.” Deidara was one of the few people who was aware of Sasuke, since he was the one in charge of Sasori’s punishment and education after Naruto contacted them.

Deidara supported the pale body, taking the weight on himself as he undid the straps one by one. The redhead leaned on him with relief, without a trace of humility or anger, he seemed to revel in the feeling of the man supporting him. Deidara gently lowered him to the floor, making sure he wasn’t having any issues with the blood rushing back to his limbs, and took out his bit. Before Sasuke knew it, Sasori was on the ground, his head hitting the floor in a full kowtow.

            “Sasuke, Kurama, Sir. I am so sorry for being reckless with Sasuke’s body. Please accept my sincere apology for my carelessness.”

            _Damn, he must be a hell of a good teacher,_ Sasuke took a step back, surprised by the change. Sasori’s usual attitude ranged from indifferent to smug, but never apologetic. The raven almost felt uncomfortable by how the tables have turned.

            “It’s fine,” Sasuke replied, not wanting to drudge up the past events.

            “Sasori, as long as Sasuke forgives you, I accept your apology as well. I take it you’re learning how to be a good Dom from Deidara?” Naruto asked, seeing the nod from his friend.

            “Yes, Sir. Master Deidara is teaching me how to become a submissive so that I can experience pleasure and pain firsthand. It has opened up my eyes to how dangerous and unkind my actions have been thus far.” Sasori looked at Sasuke, the remorse in his eyes was obvious, but Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

            “Sasori, I’m not made of glass. You may have been a shitty Dom, but you’d have never been able to break me.”

            “Ha!” Deidara laughed, impressed by the cocky attitude, “I like this one.”

Naruto smirked, his chest warming with what he perceived to be pride. He knew he was up for a challenge, not that breaking Sasuke was ever a goal, but he was glad that there was plenty of room to maneuver. Knowing that he could push the youth pretty far before he ever came close to causing any actual harm was reassuring.

            “Did you learn a good lesson today?” Naruto asked, recognizing the pattern of paint splotches across the redhead’s body. He’s used a similar technique before, but without the paint.

            “Yes,” Sasori answered with a sigh. “Different body parts can handle different amounts of force.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, noticing the color variations between Sasori’s back and legs covered in green paint, yellow hands and feet, and red creases in elbows and behind the knee. His nipples and crotch were speckled in small white triangles of the riding crop.

            “The green, yellow, red, and white areas indicate the least to most sensitive areas, thus their ability to take on more pain if necessary,” Naruto explained. “The concept was actually taken from the sensory homunculus – a visual representation of the sensory nerve concentration of the human body.”

            “One has to take into account the areas of focus to achieve the desired effect, and know what places could get damaged if too much force is used,” Deidara finished, driving the final point home for Sasori.

            “Keep up the good work, Sasori, he’ll make a great Dom out of you yet,” Naruto gave him a nod of approval. “Thanks, D.”

            “It’s my pleasure, Sir,” Deidara gave him a small bow of respect.

            “Enjoy your time at The Precipice, Sasori. Learn all you can, because if I ever find out that you abused your power as a Dom over anyone else,” Naruto leaned forward, bringing his face closer to the kneeling man to make sure he could see his dangerous blue eyes clearly, “Gaara and I will make sure that it will **never** happen again. Understood?”

            “Y-Yes Sir,” Sasori stuttered over his words.

            “Good,” Naruto pet his head softly. “Now, go back to your Master.”

Sasori shuffled a few steps back, kneeling by the long-haired man, his body trembling slightly from the fear that permeated his form. Deidara pet his head to calm him down.

            “Keep me updated on his progress, D,” Naruto said and turned to walk out of the room.

            “Yes, Sir. Thank you for coming, it’s always a pleasure. And Sasuke, it was very nice to meet you, I hope we’ll see you around,” Deidara smiled and gave them a small wave.

Sasuke nodded, taking a last look at his old Dom who was practically unrecognizable in his eyes. Sasuke wondered if he would have been able to agree to their previous arrangement if he had met the man he saw today, he doubted it.

            “I see the pity in your eyes, but it is unwarranted,” Naruto said once they stepped out into the hallway. “To retrain a Dom, we have to start from scratch, which means going back to the basics by breaking down all of the foundation they thought they knew. But no worries, he will be up and domineering in no time, Deidara is an excellent teacher. I trained him myself,” Naruto smiled and gave him a wink. “Although, depending on how much he enjoys his training, he may become a switch,” Naruto chuckled.

            “I never thought that Sasori would be anything but a Dom before,” Sasuke said, since a switch would indicate that a person can play both roles - Dominant and submissive - depending on the partner and situation.

            _Although, now that I’ve met a few real Doms, I’m not even sure what Sasori was_ , Sasuke thought as he walked down the hallways with Naruto’s light grip still guiding him through the darkness. He heard and then felt the music again, indicating that they were nearing the dance floor again.

They walked up to the stairs by the balcony, the lights and music still going strong. Stimulated by hormones pumping through their bloodstream, the half-naked people were now more eager and brazen to engage in salacious acts. A significant part of the dancers were now less dressed than they were before, bare breasts, swinging cocks, and almost complete nudity was on full display now. Sasuke was pretty sure he saw a couple banging along the wall of the dance floor.

            “I did say it was going to get a bit more crazy,” Naruto yelled into his ear loud enough for him to hear over the music.

Sasuke wasn’t sure where he should look because anywhere he turned his eyes he saw people engaging in foreplay that should probably be left for the bedroom. Naruto took them around the stairs, pulling him across the back wall to the doors they first entered through. A few bodies bumped into them, knocking Sasuke forward and against Naruto’s back.

            “We’re almost there,” Naruto said, gripping his wrist a bit tighter to squeeze through he last of the crowd.

As soon as they made it past the suffocating panel of people, they paused to take a breath. Naruto took a step toward the exit, but noticed Sasuke’s pulse skyrocket on the tips of his fingers. He stopped, wondering if something was wrong, but when he turned to look, all he caught was Sasuke biting his lip and diverting his gaze from a couple by the wall a dozen feet down. Naruto frowned, not fully understanding the cause of such a response, but definitely seeing the slight spread of pink on the pale face. Sasuke glanced up and saw his eyes on him, the onyx gaze shifted away for a few seconds before he recomposed himself and walked ahead, this time pulling Naruto behind him. The blond shrugged, but before they left the room caught a glimpse of what Sasuke saw. A man on his knees was giving another guy a blow job; now that wouldn’t have been that shocking, except for the fact that the recipient was wearing a set of navy scrubs, similar to the ones he wore of regular basis at work. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

            _Interesting…_ Naruto thought. _I’m going to tuck that one away for later._ He smirked and let the raven lead him away from the escalating party.

They went and got their things, not seeing Gaara or Neji anywhere, which Naruto wasn’t surprised about, he figured they wouldn’t be out until morning, as long as everything at the party went smoothly. It was just after eleven thirty when they pulled out of the garage, making their way through the still crowded downtown. Many bars and clubs were still open, allowing patrons to move from place to place in search of what they desired.

Sasuke thought back on the things he’d seen tonight, his mind went back and forth between his past knowledge of what BDSM was and what it… could be? Tonight, he saw the things he’s done, but this time the acts seemed to mean so much more than just desire for punishment and pain. The relationship he saw between the Doms and the subs was unmistakable, he could almost taste the cathartic release from each sub that entered their subspace, the want radiated from their pores to the point that he could smell it.

            “What you saw tonight is a relationship between the Dominant and their submissive,” Naruto said, looking over the dark road in front of him. “Thus far, you have wedged yourself in the space between sex and violence, completely ignoring the complex layers of passion, friendship, and affection that are supposed to make up the foundation of the D/s bond.”

Sasuke thought about his words, seeing all those feelings with his own eyes and being able to notice the emotions each time he entered a new room. He sensed fear creeping through the shrouded recess of his mind, the thought of being completely free terrifying him to the core. To be seen for whom he really was, without judgment, without prejudice, just as a flawed human. His whole body trembled for a second.

            “It’s not easy,” Naruto said, practically feeling the reaction. “It takes time and infinite trust to get that far. But to start, all you have to be is willing.”

They drove in silence, Sasuke contemplating on whether or not he had the inner strength to go through with it. He had the desire; those scenes did not leave him free of want. But did he think he could master the courage and give himself over completely? Could he even try?

            “I’m going to adjust the contract accordingly. And tomorrow, if you chose to sign it, I will show you what it’s like to embrace what you are and what you need, instead of just enduring it.”

Sasuke listened to the Naruto’s calm voice, the low tone helped him ground his storming insides. The slight rocking of the car and the draining endorphins soon left him completely exhausted. After a while, Naruto saw his eyes close as he leaned back against the headrest, his lips parted slightly as he fell asleep in his presence once more.

            _Sleep is a luxury for you, Sasuke. Get it while you can,_ Naruto thought, focusing back on the road to get them back home safely.

x

 

Neji pulled off the remnants of his tattered costume, enjoying the feeling of his skin tingling from their earlier activity. Gaara brought him into a deep kiss, taking advantage of their closeness for a few more seconds.

            “What did you think of Sasuke?” Neji asked, after he finally pulled away.

            “Hm,” Gaara replied, not wanting to answer.

            “Naruto sure has a type,” Neji smirked at him and winked.

            “What, damaged?”

            “What? No, well, maybe…” Neji practically rolled his eyes. “I mean cold, broody, and unapproachable.” He linked his hands behind Gaara’s neck. “Reminds you of someone?”

Gaara stayed quiet, thinking about the black-haired youth; the man did have the aura around him that screamed ‘fuck off or die’ to the world.

            “God damn altruistic masochist is what he is,” Gaara said almost annoyed. “You’d think he would do something for himself for once and act like the sadist that he should be.”

            “I think he gets more out of it than you think,” Neji replied, remembering the animalistic look aimed at Sasuke during their dance performance.

            “Then let's hope it ends differently this time, otherwise I’m going to drag him back by his feet and chain him in his own dungeon.”

Neji laughed full-heartedly, imagining Naruto in the position where he would let himself be captured like that.

            _Although, if Gaara and I really asked him to come back, I wonder if he would actually say no._ Neji thought, uncertain of what the answer would be. He was confident that if they asked a month ago, the blond would most likely say yes. However, with the certain new addition in his life, he wasn’t so sure.

 

 

 

 

To be continued….

 

So WHAT DO YOU THINK!!!!???? Comment, like/leave a kudo and I’ll love you till the end of time because you took the time to do that.

 

I know we haven’t got into much of Sasuke’s past, but we will eventually. And someday we’ll meet the rest of the characters lol. Sorry that it took so long, but if anyone asks, no, I couldn’t have split it and posted sooner. It doesn’t work like that, especially when I’m in the middle of a significant story segment.

 

*if you’d like to see the wings go here → https://img0.etsystatic.com/137/1/12579253/il_570xN.1049313592_m2uz.jpg


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